The Human Empire
by TheSealer
Summary: AU In this universe, the Narns weren't invaded by the Centauri. We were. They attacked us two years after our first contact, but couldn't hold us enslaved for long. They devastated our homeworld and left us thirst for revenge. Now we prepare for our rise as an Empire and to sow destruction to the galaxy until we reach the Centauri. Rated T for safety
1. Prologue

**THE HUMAN EMPIRE**

**In this universe, the Narns weren't invaded by the Centauri. We were. They attacked us two years after our first contact. But they couldn't hold us enslaved for long. Nevertheless they devastated our homeworld and left us thirst for revenge.**

**Chapter 1: Prologue**

It was the middle of the Earth Year 2108. The Earth Alliance was in its 23rd anniversary and the beginning of a New Age. Far out there, the Centauri Republic made a decision that would instigate that Age. Instead of expanding to Sector 160 where they would eventually make contact with the peaceful Narn Regime, the Republic advanced into Sector 100 where they would meet a race much similar to them in appearance, but had not developed space-ferrying: Humans!

Until 2110, a good friendship was maintained between the two races. The Humans made trades with the visitors and could use the Centauri Jumpgates. However, the ever arrogant Centauri saw the Humans as an easy opponent and good slaves. So they began attacking the planet in an attempt to enslave Humanity and strip-mining their homeworld. The Earth Alliance government fell in almost a month.

Nonetheless, there was one thing they didn't bother to account for: the bloody history of the Human race. That made us rebel, wild, disobedient and much harder to hold than most of other races.

In less than 3 Earth months after they conquer the planet, hundreds of Resistances and rebels for in various spots in the planet blossom and began driving the Centauri off their lands. At first the oppressors ignored these rebellions. They saw Humans as primitive savages who could do nothing more than to bother a mighty race such as the Centauri. When they finally began taking action against their slaves, the Centauri used their superior technology to overwhelm their enemies. That seemed to work for a while until the Humans rebelled again, modified their strategies and seized some of the Centauri's weapons.

For the next thirty years, there were periods when the Centauri used superior technology to silence the Humans Resistance and after one or two years, the Humans rebelled again, only stronger and more adapted than before.

At the fiftieth year of occupation, the Centauri were having great trouble in controlling the Humans. So, in retaliation, the Centauri Emperor ordered to be broadcast to the whole planet a horrifying event: the 5-week torture and then execution by spacing of 1 million Humans, some of them actually children less than 10 years old. The tyrant had the idea of using that to demoralize the Resistance.

Once again, the oppressors proved to know nothing of how the Humans fight and live. That broadcast only incentivized the rebels to fight even harder and more viciously. The slaves trapped in the slave camps escaped their captors and joined the Resistance. Soon enough, every living Human was acting against the Centauri.

In the Earth year 2165, after 55 years of occupation, the oppressors left but not before they mass-drived the Human Homeworld with asteroids, badly damaging the planet and killing millions. The humans are left to rebuild a ravaged and dying planet, with slightly more than 4 billion of their people.

Nevertheless, the Centauri hadn't learned from their mistake: they still underestimate their adversaries, not caring to check in their strengths and their weaknesses. They overlooked the fact that the pages of Human history are soaked with blood of revenge, and that they left some of their weapons and technology behind, including some of their warships.

In the beginning of the 23rd century, Earth was strong still scorched. The Humans had begun colonizing planets in the solar system, such as Mars, Io, Europa and Ganymede. The procedure to terraform Mars, started in 2190, was a great step and a sign of hope. It would take many more decades for their world to heal its injuries. But it would take even more to heal the injuries to the Humans. They had seen how evil and traitorous aliens could be. And now they wanted pay back. The Earth Alliance proved to be weak and too soft. A new government was required to take humanity to the starts, to victory and to revenge. Hence, from the ashes of the Earth Alliance the Human Empire was born.

**So it is. This happened to fast, I know. Next chapter will began in the year 2225 when the Human war technology is far more advanced than in cannon. It will feature some known characters. Also, since the Narns were never invaded but are still a major power, they aren't as hostile nor as aggressive was they are in cannon. But now that our first contact with aliens was disastrous, our race is more hostile and distrustful of off-worlders. I hope to bring out the next chapter soon!**


	2. Our empire, our people

**THE HUMAN EMPIRE**

**IMPORTANT NOTE: I've updated this chapter. I changed the conversation between the two Colonels and introduced a little backstory of Empress Levy and the administration previous to hers. Also, I decreased the numbers of the Supreme Council and made Earth a little less xenophobic.**

**The only OCs in this chapter are a few Counselors, Colonel Leonard Alexander and Doctor Dorothy Morden. Also Ari Ben Zair is an airforce officer, not a army.**

**Chapter 2: Our empire, our people**

**2nd December 2225**

**Earth (aka Terra). Homeworld. Human Empire**

Rome, aka City of Battles, had been the battle field of many Human-Centauri ground battles. Now, it was the capital of Earth. The Imperial Palace, the large residence of the government of the Human Empire. In spite of been called 'palace' it resembled more of a fortress. The most impressive, heavy guarded, menacing looking fortress ever built by Humans.

Inside a large, tall round room like a covered coliseum were sitting just 50 of the 2 hundreds of people; they were called the Supreme Counselors, the main Legislative power of humanity. The other 150 were in their protected homes, far away from the Imperial Palace, and would attend to the meeting via electronic. All of this to make sure the highest of the government wouldn't be all gathered in one place as a big target. Even though there was never a terrorist/alien attack since the founding of the Empire. Sitting in a chair above the highest row of Counselor was the Empress. What is an empire with no Emperor/Empress?

"All right, let us get down to business." – Empress Elizabeth Levy declared, officially opening the session. The recorders went online by her voice command. The Empress/Emperor, although be called such, is actually more of a President. The names 'Empire' and 'Emperor/Empress' are used because they sound strong. He or she raises to the throne through population vote for 6 years, however, it may be re-elected as many times as the people wants. The children of the Empress/Emperor usually join the Military. The Empress holds the Executive power and can also overrule the Counselors if they happen to be in a deadlock.

It's been 60 years since the Third Age began. 55 years of slavery, followed by 60 years of regained freedom. The First Age was when Humanity was still not a civilization. It evolved from the primates, to the caveman, to the first speaking writing human. The Second began when the Humans become a civilization and ended when the Centauri were banished from Earth. The Third marked the birth of the Human Empire and humanity was united under a flag of thirst for blood. Centauri blood. With the Third Age came also the supreme xenophobic human who believed every sentient creature that wasn't Human was inferior and must be exterminated. All of this courtesy of the Centauri.

"Majesty, with only our home-system, Beta Durani, Deneb, Orion and Proxima, the Empire isn't big enough to wage a war against the Centauri." – Counselor Samuel began. He was one of the oldest Counselors, been 20 years old when the Centauri were drove off Earth. He was known to hate the Centauri with every fiber of his being, but didn't let hate to overcome his judgment. – "The people are getting more resentful every year."

It was slightly surprising that even though most of Humanity nowadays was born after the Centauri invasion they still held an intimidating amount of hate for the aliens.

After 2165, Humanity began to rebuild. And though the cities were all standing proud, menacing and imperative, the planet itself was still sick. Even after more than a hundred years, Earth would still need time to fully recover.

There were some rural areas where vegetation and animal life flourished faster and were now still prospering, but the Earth in general is still injured. The atmosphere is still tainted with a faint curtain of dust which blocks out some of the sun light. Many former urban zones remain ravaged, though villages and small cities have been established there and the people of Earth are recovering their old way of life, barely. Sadly, resources like fresh water now have to be extracted from the sea, desalinated and recycled. Fortunately, the Centauri left some terraforming technology behind which has boosted slightly the recovery of Earth.

"The people of Earth, you mean." – a mid-age woman Counselor retorted. – "In Mars and every other colony there aren't anti-alien cults or outraged mobs demanding we go to war."

In the midst 2170s, the Empire expanded into the solar system. Mars is already virtually completely terraformed and looks like what Earth used to. 35 years of work now gave the Human race a secondary planet to call home, now slightly more welcoming than Earth.

In the terraforming list were also Callisto, Europa and Ganymede in 2200. Since their further from the Sun than Mars, it was rather complicated, but Callisto and Europa are done and in 2229 so will Ganymede. Problem was, with very low gravity, these worlds could never be filled with Earth's plants and animals to create self-sustaining ecosystems. So the people had to leave in artificially-gravited cities. And to top it off, there isn't much room to expand, and the Humans found further expansion impossible due to several races own the planets nearby. The Empire consist in the home-system along with the systems of the planets Proxima III, Deneb IV, Orion IV and Beta Durani I, which are the only major outer colonies for colonization. Beta Durani I is nearly terraformed but it's still hostile. The others were found habitable enough and are well populated by people who wanted to escape the uninviting conditions of Earth. Vega VII was a military outpost finishing its terraforming procedure. Jericho III, Cyrus III and Sinzar IV were colonies not in the terraforming lists, since they were never planned for major colonization.

"What of the latest reports. Do we have information about _every_ race that borders our territory, this time?" – Empress Levy inquired. While the Human Empire had no diplomatic relations with anyone, they kept a good intelligence of aliens through spying.

The Empire was surrounded by some major members of the League such as the Vree and Markab in antispinward. After establishing Beta 9, humanity collided with the Markab. A few border skirmishes took place and not all were very successful. The previous Emperor was a narrow-minded individual that kept pressing for aggression even though humanity knew little about the Markab. At that time, Levy was just a Council member. This lasted until a wiser mind, Levy, rose to the throne and decision was made to officially apologize to the Markab and give death penalty to any human ship unauthorized to cross that boarder.

In coreward, were the wretched Centauri, of course, and recently a small race that acquired space ferrying travel 30 years ago, called Narns. An enigmatic race called Minbari meets the spinward Human border in the systems Vega, Jericho, Cyrus and Sinzar.

Militarily, the Human war-machine is more than a match for the Centauri's, but nobody believes a Human-Centauri War could be waged just yet in spite of public opinion. The Empire does not have the resources to defeat their former enslavers. While the Joint Chiefs believe victory was likely possible, it would be tricky and millions of Humans would die in the effort. Even in victory, the Empire would be weakened and defenseless against some opportunist neighbor like the Koulani or the Ch'lonas. Humanity needed territory and more advanced technology for victory to be certain and relatively easy.

"Yes, Majesty." - a Counselor responded. – "Most of the races around our borders don't have large territories, however. Safe for the Centauri." – he said the name with venom.

"Then, I believe our best option is to expand through invasion." – the Empress decided. Nobody spoke; even though they knew it wasn't very a good idea, nobody could think of something better. Empress Levy carried on. – "The Narns would be an easy target, but they have primitive technology. Most of the minor races are between us and the Rim. We need to conquer territory between us and Centauri Prime! But more importantly, we need new technologies."

"How about the Minbari? We got reports from various members of the League on Non-Aligned World they are the most advanced in the galaxy." – Counselor William Morgan Clark suggested. He was relatively young in the Supreme Council.

"We know nothing of the Minbari. Only that the Centauri fear them and are virtually the oldest known space-ferrying race. If even our enemies couldn't oppose them, then we certainly can't." – Samuel said. He and Clark had a bitter political rivalry.

"Are you claiming these Minbari are superior to us?" – Clark snarled discreetly. Although many other Counselors believed their race to be the Prime Race in existence, none of them were as intoxicated with that belief as Clark was.

"No, I'm saying only a fool would rush into a clearly suicide invasion. You may believe our race is superior to everyone else out there, but the truth is many aliens were traveling the starts and terraforming dead worlds when we were still living in caves. " – Samuel retorted keeping his cool, while Clark had a vein popping in his neck. – "Know your enemy. These were the lessons the previous administration failed to account for."

"Enough!" – the Empress called out. – "Attacking the Minbari isn't wise. Maybe one day, but not today. But you Counselor Clark brought a good point mentioning the League. If we need territory, advanced technology and the League is right on our doorstep, why not invading _them_?"

Empress Levy paused for effect. The Counselors exchanged looks and whispers. Some simply stared at their sovereign for a further explanation. That plan was dangerous.

"Abbai and the Hyach are the most technologic developed races in the League. In fact, in the past, the Centauri bled painfully when came against the Abbai defensive technology." – the Empress said in a disdainful tone.

"But Majesty, those two races are in the opposite side of the League. We would have to open our way through by conquering the Vree, Markab, Descari, Gaim and Brakiri." – Counselor Natsumi Takamichi said. – "We might even have to fight the Iksha, the Lort and the Yolu if they think we might attack them."

"I agree. And if the Dazi join the fight, we might end up with invasion forces inside our borders. Moreover, the Centauri had trouble dealing with Abbai and their technology is just slightly superior to our own." – Counselor Adam Mullër supported.

"Although I believe attacking the League is difficult, it might be possible to pull it off. Our technology is just a very small step behind the Centauri's. If we can make sure some of the most powerful League worlds are distracted or uninterested in fighting, we could win an invasion war." – Samuel said in a thoughtful tone. He was an old, cautious and patience strategist which gained him the respect of many in the military.

"My thoughts exactly, Counselor." – the Empress gave Samuel a small smile. – "The first step is to make our war machine even greater, even perfecting our own technology. If we attack the League, our main concern are the Drazi and the Abbai. But the league is not a military alliance. We must make sure the Drazi stay neutral, all we have to worry about is a strategy to defeat the Abbai. As far the other minor races, such as the Yolu, they won't fight someone who doesn't attack them. And while the Vree may have extraordinary weapons, they have no sense of military."

Counselor Susanna Lucenko, the newest member of the Council, stood up:

"In any way, we require more information about the far-League races. And maybe we could form an alliance with some other races, if we convince them to attack the League, making them fight a war on two fronts and things easier for us."

Even though that idea was appealing to many in the Supreme Council, some of the most xenophobic Counselors stood up outraged:

"Making alliances with aliens! That is unthinkable." – Clark shouted. – "Besides they would just backstab us so they could get all the spoils."

"I agree with both of you." – the Empress said. – "Forcing the League to fight on two fronts is appealing, but we must choose our…_allies_ in this endeavor carefully. They might, as Counselor Clark said, backstab us. What races live in the other edge of the League?"

"There's the Lumati, they live on the Centauri doorstep. They could fight the Grome, the Hurr, the pak'ma'ra… even the Drazi but they rarely interfere with any other race. And there's no evidence they could fight all those four races simultaneously." – Natsumi spoke, reading a small report. – "There's also the Tal-kona'sha. They're rumored to be even more advanced than the Lumati but twice as isolationist. The Alacans boarder the Abbai and Balosians but they're too peacefull."

"Is that all?" – Empress Levy was visibly disappointed.

"There's another race, actually." – Natsumi spoke. – "They inhabit a planet between Tal-kona'sha space and the Alacans. It's called Omelos. I think the race's name is… Dilgar."

"What do we know about the Dilgar?" – another Counselor questioned.

"None of our spies could get close to them. The League says they're aggressive and isolationists. They make slaves of other races. Most of their population is dedicated to warfare. They're aggressive like the Drazi but educated to keep control in battle. A true militaristic race." – Natsumi concluded.

"But if we can sway the Dilgar to attack the League with us, there's no way we can lose. And even if the Dilgar can be a threat to us, they'll be busy fighting. When the war is over, both of us will have to consolidate our conquered territories." – Samuel proposed.

"That idea could work, my fellow Counselor. But you are neglecting an important factor." – Mullër interfered. – "Our real targets are the Abbai and the Hyach and those races are the Dilgar's neighbors. If we bring the Dilgar into this campaign, they'll surely set their eyes on our targets."

"As I said, aliens cannot be trusted!" – Clark muttered.

"Perhaps we can make a deal out of that." – the Empress suggested. – "We need territory between our Empire and the Centauri Republic. The Abbai and Hyach are far away, but we don't want their worlds, only their technology. The Abbai will be difficult to be beat even for the Dilgar. We could join forces with them against the Abbai. They could keep the planet and we would get the shield technology."

"As for territory, we will conquer the Vree, the Markab, the Gaim and probably the Descari."

"On any rate, the proposal of invading the League is our best option. But first we should send more spy squads, the best we have, to investigate these Dilgar. Also, to increase the budget to the new Nemesis Project. I want it to be ready and mass-produced within a year. And the new Heavy Wingblade-class fighters should be deployed as soon as the final tests are complete. Let us now vote."

Clark and a few others like him were against the idea of making a deal with any alien but were overruled. The Empress' idea was approved by most of the Council. Intelligence on the Dilgar was to be acquired and extra money was to be sent to the secret project.

Even though the matter was not yet fully decided, one thing was for sure: whether it would happen in 1 year, in 10 years or in 50 years, the League of Non-Aligned Worlds would feel and fear the might of the Human Empire.

**15th December 2225**

**Mars. Autonomous Colony. Human Empire.**

Once known as 'Red Planet', Mars had become a partly green, partly brown, partly blue world with the green part slowly but surely engulfing the brown one. In the 60 years that followed the beginning of the Third Age, Mars had become a new home. While Earth had much more habitable land, Mars wasn't marked by the War of Independence. Many humans are traveling and starting lives elsewhere because of Earth's partly devastation and Mars is the first candidate on the list. All achieved through reverse-engineered Centauri terraforming technology. There were three cities on Mars: Schiaparelli, Lowell and Galilei. Mars' ice caps were melted and now the red planet has a fresh water ocean covering close to a quarter of its surface, in the North hemisphere. Many species of plants are been transported from Earth to begin giving the red planet its welcoming touch of green.

Galilei was the biggest of the three cities and the most beautiful. Unlike Earth, the city wasn't meant to be a war-fortress. The city was more of the capitalist style. Prosperity was its main goal.

Nonetheless, an Eartharmy HQ was stationed in Galilei. Within the large, fortified building were three high ranking officers. Two of them, Robert Lefcourt and William Hague, were Navy Colonels dressed in dark blue. The third was a black skinned-man dressed in brown uniform, Richard Franklin, an Army Colonel. They were all off-duty but preferred to talk about business before leaving just yet.

The door to the room opened and another Colonel walked in. He had a short but strong constitution, had hazel eyes and red short hair. His name was Leonard Alexander.

"Ah, Colonel Alexander, good you could join us." – Lefcourt greeted. The colonels all saluted the new arrival and vice-versa. Alexander had been granted a few days of leave while his wife was on labor.

"Gentlemen, I have been Colonel for 6 years." – Alexander said. Then he broke into a joyful grin. – "But 5 days ago, I have become a father. It's a girl! Brenna thinks she might be a telepath."

The men immediately congratulated Colonel Alexander. They all drank a cup of coffee on the birth of a new Human life.

"To Lyta Alexander, who shall be a great woman!" – Alexander drunk merrily. A few moments later, the festivity was over and all men re-adopted their 'official look'.

"You have heard about things on Earth." – Lefcourt said that not as a question. He had been on the homeworld just before arriving on Mars. – "About the people getting more and more dissatisfied?"

"They're just angry because of there's none we can strike at. The Centauri are still too powerful." – Franklin said that with some resentment. – "And the Empress has forbidden any assaults on the Ch'lonas, Koulani or the Markab."

"On the bright side, we haven't had boarder skirmishes since the previous administration. And Eartharmy has grown quite stronger under her wing." – Hague elucidated. The former Emperor was devoted to the belief of the Prime Race. Before Levy reached the throne, anti-alien propaganda was fairly common. However, there were no efforts to learn about the aliens or keep a good intelligence. This led to some defeats in the skirmiches that marked that administration.

Empress Levy, however, was a more open-minded person. She stopped the incursions for good and apologized to the Markab. This made many military officers to frown. Frown that disappeared when the new head of state began founding more Eartharmy projects and creating a base for alien intelligence research. She also eliminated, bit by bit, the ultra-xenophobic propaganda and ordered more impartial programs to be educated. While she kept the militarism, she changed her people to think and not underestimate the enemy just because they're not human.

Eartharmy had an Extra-Intelligence Division that trains soldiers into going to other races territories and worlds to learn of those races. These teams usually have powerful trained telepaths. Most telepaths are part of the military, and while many work as spies for the Empire, others hold positions in the fleet. There are even a few with high ranks such as Generals.

"It feels more like she's cooking up something big." – Lefcourt suggested. Those were some rumors on Earth, whispered by the more patient or anxious people. – "Everyone saying the military buildup is all preparations for war. A major one. She made Eartharmy into something greater but so far we haven't been put to test. As if she's saving it for something big."

The other three hummed, accepting that statement in different ways. While the more xenophobic regime was over, many were still unsatisfied with the lack of retaliation. Life on Earth was bearable but hard. The Centauri had inflicted a serious injury which couldn't heal until aliens died by the billions.

"If I had to make a guess, she'll give the people the war they so much want. She shaped the Empire into a fighting force. I doubt she has done all of that just to pass the time." – Colonel Alexander said.

"But the question is to whom?" – Hague asked, taking another sip of his coffee. – "The Koulani and the Ch'lonas wouldn't give us much trouble, either way. I think even the old regime could beat them both with ease. So who are we gunning for?"

"Maybe it's them and someone else: the Deneth, the Wychand and the Torta are also on our rimward doorstep. Those races have no colonies so seizing their homeworlds would be easy." – Franklin suggested, though even he was not entirely convinced that was the plan.

"But what for? The best those planets have are resources. They have no strategic value against our enemies." – Lefcourt retorted. Those planets were not between the Empire and the Centauri."

"But truth be told, I was never a superstitious man, but I can feel a lot is about to change in the next years." – Alexander commented. Soon enough, the colonels went their ways after saluting their goodbyes.

"Populum, exercitum, propositum!"

A while later, Franklin was walking out of the headquarters. On his way out, he found Sergeant Alfredo Garibaldi. Garibaldi had proven himself a good soldier, ingenious, determined, but not too arrogant. He was a ground pounder and a man Franklin trusted as his second.

"Colonel." – Garibaldi saluted and Franklin saluted back. Walking into the city, seeing people trading all sorts of looks. Unlike on Earth, there wasn't the typical aggressive glare in people's eyes demanding blood. Even though, the Humans living in colonies weren't in friendly towards aliens.

"Sergeant, have you ever studied Roman mythology?"

"Yes, Colonel."

"What do you know about Mars?" – Franklin asked.

"He was the God of War, sir. I also recall he was red-skinned, just like this planet." – Garibaldi chuckled. – "And now, there's 1 billion people living here. And yet, Earth is the most willing to go to war. Maybe we should rename this world."

"The government prefers that our people remain aggressive enough for when our eventual war with the Centauri Republic comes." – the colonel said.

"As if they needed. Even after we drove the Centauri off Earth, they still launched aggression attacks during the last 60 years. I would say, that's enough to keep us begging for war." – Garibaldi sighed. – "Soon or later, we will fight them but our territory is still small compared to the Centauri's. History is repeating itself."

"What do you mean, Sergeant?" – Franklin raised a curious eyebrow.

"It's Perpetual War and Arms Race again, sir. We've vowed to go to war with the Centauri 60 years ago. But we still haven't made that promise to ourselves. Over these decades we've been arming ourselves, perfecting our ships, our warfare tech. And yet, even with all this, little has been done to restore Earth. Guess that's how we are. It's our Empire, our people." – Garibaldi said.

"Sergeant, you know we need to protect ourselves. Even nowadays, the Centauri cruise around our outer colonies. Even though we can now repel them with ease." – Franklin said that with a chuckle. The technology Eartharmy possessed was just a step behind the Centauri's, but the Human race had a bloody history of conflict and warfare which evolved the Human into an adaptable creature meant to win conflicts. To the colonel, that was an unremarkable proof of Human superiority.

"Yes, and the folks back home continue to live angry and thirsting for war. Can't say is a pretty sight." – Garibaldi insisted.

"They live now far better and much more protected than when the Centauri appeared." – Franklin said. – "Also, the SPWE has kept the people of Earth satisfied enough."

A few years after the Centauri left, the Human Empire established a new concept, SPWE, which stands for Switch Permanent War Economy. It's '_Switch_' because it can be switch on and off to a Welfare Economy for a period of time no longer than 8 years. This was made to keep the people happy and to not let their whole world turn into an aggressive military hellish dictatorship like has happened before in Human history. Whenever the people became unsatisfied towards the government for not trying to increase their life standards, the economy 'switched'.

"With all due respect, sir. That's only true because there's no one alive that remembers our way of live before the Centauri. They just don't know anything better." – Garibaldi knew he was stepping a line, but this matter always seemed to get to him. – "The government knows that if everything we have was used to help Earth, the hatred our people feel towards the Centauri would die out and there would no longer be motivation for war."

Richard Franklin hummed, but not in annoyance. Usually, Alfredo Garibaldi was against him when it came to non-military opinions. Nevertheless, Franklin wasn't arrogant to the point of no liking been contradict. He believed Human was the ultimate race, but not because it was born like that. Franklin learned out to outsmart his enemies before fighting. He knew everything Garibaldi said was true or partly true.

"Sergeant, you are an exceptional soldier, but you never seemed the patriot. Why did you choose military career?"

"Sir, as you well pointed out I'm not a patriotic. I reckon the Human Empire has flaws, many flaws. And unlike a handful of my drinking buddies, I don't hate all aliens. Just the Centauri. But, I love my wife and my kid Michael a ton. It's for them that I fight, not for my government."

**30th December 2225**

**Kansas, Earth**

David Sheridan walked out of his small house with his family, his wife Miranda and his children, Lizzie and Johnny. Every Sunday, during his vacation, he took his family out for a drive. Usually his two kids simply pointed to one direction and the family followed, driven by the excitement of travelling towards the unknown.

David Sheridan was nowadays a Chief of Security of a major-defensive station around Earth, while Miranda was a teacher. Sheridan, however, never fully dedicated his life to his job. He only chose to become security because he wanted to protect and help other people. Sheridan only resorted to violence when he didn't see any other way around. He believed words could do much more than arms.

The man once read about the old days before the Centauri. In that time there were all sorts of jobs. One of them was something called 'diplomat'. What he wouldn't give to have lived with his family during that age.

The Earth he grew up wasn't exactly what he would call home. He never saw what the planet was before the Third Age. Everything Humanity was dedicated now was to warfare, even though there were still some talented artists and a bit of culture. For all intents and purposes, the soul of Humanity was long gone.

Kansas, however, wasn't much affected by the Centauri. It was one of the few cities of the old days that still preserved its roots. Although this town, like many other big cities, had their most populate areas protected by extended Centauri reverse-engineered planetary defense technology. Around the cities were anti-air missile launchers that, along with the orbital defense grid, were meant to attack any enemy ship that entered bombardment range to the planet. The cities also had shelters dug deep into ground. The entrances for these underground shelters were located in the periphery of the cities, so the main roads were protected too.

"You OK dad?" – asked his 10-year-old son, Johnny.

"I'm fine, Johnny…just thinking." – Sheridan answered. On their way, the car of the family passed by the Liberty Memorial. That monument remained standing untouched during the Centauri occupation and was still there. Nowadays had two words carved in big letter: _NEVER AGAIN_.

In older days the Liberty Memorial was dedicated in the memory of all those American soldiers who died in World War I. Now, it was dedicated to that and something else: to the vow that as long as Humanity was still breathing, they would never allow another alien force to put their cradle and their people in chains.

"So, what's our destination my captains?" – Sheridan put on a mechanical smile. After a brief argue between the siblings, they agreed to go to the Zoo. Zoos weren't what they used to be, after the Centauri wiped out several species and destroyed entire habitats.

On their way, Sheridan watched the city around them. He notices the architecture nowadays is different from anything the human race had built before the Third Age. The new buildings were not tall like the enormous skyscrapers that existed in the XXI century. The style was more dedicated to defensive warfare.

Militarily, Humanity was stronger and more protected than never before. Another good thing was that the planet was healing its wounds, even if at a very slow rate. Nevertheless there was a wound that was even further from healing than when the Centauri were beaten back: the spirit. The old and diverse cultures were but dead. Religion was practically non-existence. And the only incentive to progress science or explore the stars was to make the Military stronger so that one day we could wage war against their hated enemy. There was no longer the joy of adventure, to explore the unknown. Anger and hate was all Humanity could feel, all Humanity had to give now and all that made Humanity keep going.

David Sheridan sighed and watched his son through the corner of his eye. He could see the small flame of warrior fire that burnt on Johnny's eyes, like it burnt on his late father. Sheridan himself was never the warrior type but he could tell when John grows up he would join Eartharmy. So he decided to tell his son his first piece of advice:

"Johnny."

"Yeah, dad!"

"There are lessons in life we need to learn: Never start a fight, but always finish it!" – Sheridan said.

"Like the Centauri?" – Johnny questioned. – "The teacher at school is always saying we'll end our fight with them."

"That fight is already over. Too bad most people don't see it." – the father sighed as he drove away.

**31st December 2225**

**Earth**

Commander Ari Ben Zair was flying a shuttle out of Earth's orbit. His orders were to wait there, where a transport would take him elsewhere he was needed. The arrogant officer was respected and despised by many. Some considered him a great commander who led many flying squads into battle, in several alien incursions. The ones who despised him were those who didn't like his brute and somewhat thoughtless methods. Ben Zair never spared any enemy preferring to simply kill them instead of keeping them alive for interrogation. Also, he could never bear someone telling him he was wrong. All that summed had gained him the nicknames of 'Ari Ben Hitler' and 'Ari Kill 'em Zair'.

Minutes ticked by while the commander wondered why his superiors had sent him there, when finally something happened. A jump-point formed and a relatively short warship came out. It was a Tormentor-class Destroyer.

The Tormentor-class Destroyers were the simplest and smallest warships that still served the Human Empire. Been about 1100 meters long, it was outclassed by the more recent Warlock-class. Every warship had incorporated Centauri Stealth and reverse-engineered gravimetric engines for artificial gravity and speed. Moreover, the destroyers had the best deployment of engines making them fast and able to jump right back into hyperspace after jumping out. Besides escorting and short-range patrol service, the Tormentors were useful if you had to make a quick journey with fairly armament.

(A.N.: I've posted on Deviantart pictures and information of the human ships in this AU. My Deviantart name is orichalcosdark. Just go to the gallery and open the folder that says Babylon 5: Human Empire)

"_This is Captain Roger Sterns of the Tormentor-class Destroyer _Titanic_. Respond!"_ – the voice of a somewhat young man sound. Ben Zair guessed this Sterns hadn't been captain for long.

"Right here, _Titanic_. This is Commander Ari Ben Zair."

"_You are to dock on bay 3 and come aboard for transport."_ – Captain Sterns said and ended transmission. Once aboard, the commander met the captain in his office.

"Captain." – Ben Zair saluted.

"Commander." – Sterns saluted back. He was dark skinned with short dark hair. He did look young for his position, about the same age as himself. Ben Zair never liked officers who were as old as him but held higher rank than his. He bet this Sterns got his position through favor rather than skill.

"I trust you were not followed." – Sterns said. He knew of Ari Ben Zair reputation and he didn't like it a bit. The commander liked to make inferior and equal officers to look bad. Sometimes he did the same to superior ones. Stern's old captain was one of such victims and the man decided he would try to take Ben Zair down a peg. Should such chance ever appear.

"No sir. But, if I may ask, why…"

"Were you sent here?" – Sterns cut him off coldly. – "No, you may not ask that. That is all on a need-to-know basis. And right now, you don't need to know. All you do need to know is that we're transporting you to Europa for a… _small show_."

Ben Zair was tempted to ask what small show it was. The emphasis Sterns had put on it indicated he might know. Though, the commander suspected Sterns would just tell him off, again.

"In the meantime, there are available quarters on this deck. I'll have one of my crew escort you there." – Sterns said.

"But, from here to Europa it's only about 2 standard hours…sir" – Ben Zair almost forgot to add the 'sir'. – "I don't need quarters for such a short time."

"Maybe but you'll have them nonetheless." – Sterns told him nothing more. He knew what the other man wanted; to be free to prying into everything at will so he could point out flaws on his crew and ship. Maybe even inventing some. – "_Well, not on my watch, pretty boy."_

Right then, a crewman entered the office and escorted the commander out. Ben Zair decided to try his last shot to get back at Sterns.

"One question, Captain." – he said and Sterns nodded. – "Why were you selected to escort me? You are a captain of a warship, not some of some tourist liner."

It was a trap and Sterns could see it. Ben Zair thought Sterns was considered so incompetent by his superiors that they ordered him to play taxi. Well, little did he know he was totally wrong.

"The fact is, Commander, that my crew was given shore leave for the New Year's Eve. However, we decided to do one small job on our way back to Earth. Even though the home-system is well protected against aliens, it's still a long way from here to Europa. Who knows what could have happened to you if a Raider in an escape pod appeared out of nowhere." – Stern gave him a half-disguised sneer. Ben Zair wanted to snarl that back at Sterns but it wouldn't do for him to lose control now. Sterns' crewman was trying to control his laugh.

"Take him to the quarters C-12, Lieutenant."

The Lieutenant was puzzled for a moment but he did as was told, taking Ben Zair away. Sterns waited 5 minutes before going for his link.

"Captain to bridge! Prepare to jump into hyperspace."

"_Understood, sir…Uh, captain. The scanners indicate there's someone occupying quarters C-12._" – Commander Copperfield spoke.

"Yes, I believe they are currently occupied by a passenger. Is there a problem?"

"_Captain, you know of the problem with those quarters. You know what happens there when we jump in."_

"Yes, I know. Is there a problem?" – Sterns asked. It took a few seconds for Copperfield to comply.

"_No sir, preparing to jump."_

"And open a one-way channel from quarters C-12 to my office. Audio only." – Sterns finished his order and his XO did so. Sterns could hear Ari Ben Zair in his quarters. The C-12 was known for shaking violently when the _Titanic_ jumped into hyperspace, making its occupiers puking their guts out. Sterns grinned like a child given a treat when he heard Commander Ari Ben Zair barfing all over the walls and floor of C-12.

About 2 hours later, the _Titanic_ emerged from hyperspace at the Europa beacon. The ships sent a shuttle which flew to a designated shipyard. After that, the _Titanic_ departed back to homeworld. Ben Zair got out of the shuttle, with shaking feet. A telepath would never be able to tell which one he was most: enraged or sick.

"_That Roger Sterns will get what is coming to him!_" – Ben Zair growled in his mind. He heard someone's footsteps and quickly recomposed himself. It was a woman Eartharmy engineer walking alone. She was slightly round, brown haired and held a strange devious smile.

"Commander Ari Ben Zair, welcome. I am Dr. Dorothy Morden, head-scientist of this project."

"And what might this project be, doctor?" – Ben Zair said, not bothering to compliment, which the woman ignored.

"I'm not allowed to speak. You have to see for yourself. This way, please." – the commander followed the doctor into a large, echoing, warehouse. In there, he saw thousands of small ships, all meant for just one man, each. Ben Zair had heard rumors about this but he had never thought them to be true.

"New fighters." – he said.

"Exactly. These are the new Heavy Wingblade-class fighters. They eclipse the Light Wingblades in pretty much everything." – Dr. Morden said, pleased.

The Wingblades were the star as the fighter craft of the Human Empire. The Light Wingblades design was inspired by the Centauri warships. They were light a waxing crescent with a cockpit in the middle, armed with 4 pulse cannons and a basic stealth. They were fast and very maneuverable.

Now these Heavy Wingblades were of a more complex design. They had three pair of wings. The upper and lower pairs were armed with one cannon for each wing. The middle pair of wings had two cannons each. And to top it off, the middle and lower pairs had a missile on the tip of the each wing.

"Incredible, aren't they. These fighters surpass their Light counterparts in speed and agility." – Dr. Morden said. – "The upper wings are armed with light neutron fusion beams, capable of actually pinching a Quasar-class Dreadnought. That's a whole new leap for our fighter ships."

"What about the rest of the armament?" – Ben Zair questioned, actually feeling delighted. Even small, neutron fusion weapons were a great achievement for such small ships.

"The other cannons are the typical pulse cannons that the Light Wingblades share, though these can be fired at a slightly longer range. The missiles are something more special." – Morden talked about the Heavy Wingblade as if she was advertising it. – "The 4 missiles can open a hole on the hull of a Centauri Primus battlecruiser if they hit on the same spot. As a bonus, this ship is atmosphere capable, making it adequate for small planetary bombardment."

"Missiles, pulse cannons and neutron fusion beams." – Ben Zair whispered. – "It would take some stress to fire each one of these by manual command."

"We also thought about it, Commander. The missiles can be locked on and fired by voice command. Same applies to firing the neutron fusion cannons." – the scientist said.

"What kind of countermeasures does it have?" – the Light Wingblades had a basic stealth, inferior to the Centauri one.

"These fighters have an improved Centauri Stealth. We finally managed to fully develop an upgrade of what our enemies left behind. Neither Centauri warships nor fighters can properly lock on Heavy Wingblades. On the other hand, we can lock on them perfectly, thanks to the new improved sensors."

Ben Zair gave out a smile of triumph. The Human Empire had just taken the first step to surpass their enemy. Even though every Human warship had incorporated reverse-engineered stealth, they couldn't break through the stealth of the Centauri. In other words, no side could properly lock on their enemies. But now, these new fighters were completely invisible to the Centauri scanners and could lock on with no problem. That gave Ben Zair a thought.

"These new-upgraded sensors…Haven't they been installed into the warships?" – Ben Zair asked. That seemed the logical choice to do. Dorothy Morden hummed for an uncomfortable second.

"There is a small problem with the new upgraded scanners. They apparently interfere with our Gravimetric Engines. If a good number of these fighters were to approach the engines of our warships, they could actually shut down artificial gravity or even knock out the jump-engines. So the scanners should only active when they are at least 2 km from the engines."

"We are hoping to solve this problem in the future so we can install the scanners in warships, in the near future."

"I see…" – then Ben Zair had another thought. The gravimetric engines of the Human ships were hybrids from Centauri engines. – "But, could the upgraded-scanners knock out the Centauri engines?"

"We do not know for sure. Although, it is theorized that it can, we haven't tested that possibility yet." – Morden replied. Ben Zair gave another look at the thousand fighters.

"When will these be deployed?"

"In about two months they begin been mass-produced and deployed. When that happens, every station, outpost and carrier in the home system should have at least one squad of these. In 7 months, same will happen to the outer colonies."

"When will the test-runs be performed?" – Ben Zair asked, wanting to be the first pilot to ride these new ships.

"The tests have all been concluded actually. Only a few glitches were detected; all fixed now." – Morden responded.

"Already? By whom?"

"One Lieutenant-Commander David Sinclair as his team." – Dorothy Morden said. Sinclair was a famous pilot, supposedly the best ace in and from Mars. Ben Zair snarled silently at the mention of the name; David Sinclair was another of his hateful rivals. The arrogant commander envied him for his talent for air-combat.

"Because the tests went so well and Sinclair is such a gifted pilot, his whole team was presented with a full squad of Heavy Wingblades." – the engineer said, which infuriated the commander further. That didn't go unnoticed to the woman. Morden saluted a goodbye.

"Populum, exercitum, propositum!" – she said. While Dorothy Morden was never a soldier, she was part of the Eartharmy New Technologies Division and therefore required to give the military salute. – "Have a happy New Year!"

"_I hope so. This one has just ended badly for me!"_ – Ben Zair growled in his mind, turning around.

**Here it is! For those who may have doubts, yes. Colonel Leonard Alexander is Lyta's father, though he is not a telepath. And Dorothy Morden is Morden's mother. Basically, this AU is the reverse of the Dilgar War. The invasion of the League is done by us, while the Dilgar evacuate their homeworld. I'm thinking about putting the Human Empire joining forces with the Dilgar just take the League down. For those who are anxious I'll warn you that the invasion will only begin chapter 4.**


	3. Whispers in the dark

**THE HUMAN EMPIRE**

**The Dilgar sun is not about to go nova, since I always thought that was probably engineered by the Vorlons, in canon. (you know how the Vorlons are). The Dilgar have the same lifespan as the Humans. Also, a year in Omelos is just a week shorter than on Earth. So, let's say that Jha'dur was in her 90s when she came to B5. In this fict, she's in her late 50s. With the blessing of Lord of Misrule, I'm borrowing her characters and a little of the plot of her major 104-chapter fict 'The Dilgar War'.**

**On other notes, XTE (Xeno-technologies Exploration) is my version of IPX. However, XTE is more integrated in Eartharmy and its explore ships are better armed. However, this branch of Eartharmy has more clearance than others, since they are always ridding around the galaxy looking for more worlds to plunder.**

**Chapter 3: Whispers in the dark**

**28th January 2226**

**Omelos system. Inhabited. Dilgar Imperium.**

The Dilgar cargo-ship was meeting a smaller transport ship. Both vessels were colored in different shades of dark yellow, a usual signature of the Dilgar Imperium's ships. The Dilgar Imperium consisted in Omelos as the homeworld and the colonies of Rohric III, Innata IV and Wahant I. When the Dilgar got into space, they expected to find many worlds filled with resources they could exploit.

But the Universe decided to slap them in the face. The only worlds they found in their proximities were their three colonies. These colonies were already inhabited by indigenous races. The Dilgar either enslaved them or wiped them out and strip-mined their worlds. Sadly for them, even the resources taken form their captured colonies were nowhere near as massive as they hoped.

The small Dilgar transport leaving Alacan space wasn't any kind of transport. It was a slave-ship, carrying at least ten alien slaves meant to be brought to Dilgar space for labor. The captains of both ships met on the larger cargo-ship.

"I am captain Lin'chan of the _Torturer_." – greeted the captain of the cargo-ship. He waited for the captain of the transport to do the same but he did not. – "You have the merchandise?"

"Yes, sir." – the Dilgar captain of the transport said. Lin'chan frowned; that voice didn't sound Dilgar at all. It was soothing, calm and somewhat hypnotic.

Eight handcuffed figures exited the transport. They looked like Centauri, though a few of them had dark brown skin and one other had sharp eyes. Also, their hair wasn't arranged in a crest and their canine teeth were small.

"What species are they?" – Lin'chan asked, getting suspicious.

"That's confidential. All you need to know is that they have been captured in Alacan space." – the anonymous Dilgar. Lin'chan frowned even more.

"The analysis of new races of slaves is obligatory!" – Lin'chan said aggravated. First the man doesn't even introduce himself to a superior, next he refuses to obey orders!

"Captain Lin'chan, that won't be necessary." – the unknown Dilgar said, but this time he spoke in a more monotonous, hypnotic tone. Lin'chan's glared softened.

"Yes, perhaps you're right. Anyway, you can take the slaves to the cells."

"Also my ship will be captained by my second for a while. I have been recalled to Omelos." – the unknown Dilgar said again in his hypnotic tone and Lin'chan nodded. – "And, the merchandise also includes a few crates to take back to homeworld, but unfortunately, the crew of my ship is somewhat busy."

"Very well, you may come with us. And I'll have my crew transporting the crates to our ship. We're heading for Omelos, anyway." – Lin'chan accepted and went back to the bridge of the _Torturer_. The other Dilgar took the prisoners with him to the brig. The strangest thing that no-one seemed to notice is that he knew the way without asking anyone. One the way, one of the captured aliens looked eyes with the anonymous Dilgar and both gave each other a knowing smirk.

The aliens, who were all Humans, were taken to the cells rather than been thrown into them. One of the Humans, a tall man well built-up with Asian facial traits, black short hair and lacking of the tip of his left index finger looked straight into their Dilgar captor. Said Dilgar remained silent, looking down like trying to spot something miniscule in it.

"No cameras, no recordings, no eavesdroppers." – the Dilgar touched a bottom on something attached to his wrist and his whole body seemed to fizzle in static. The holographic image disappeared and in the place of the Dilgar was now a man with a slightly round face, red hair and look in his eyes could freeze someone's senses.

"The holo-suit will need a while to recharge soon." – Alfred Bester said with a dispassionate tone. Then he looked at his eight companions, which only two of them, Mike and Isabelle, were telepaths. They all together were the best spy team Eartharmy had, each one of them expert on an area, all trained to be silent, elusive and murderous if necessary.

"It wasn't hard, was it Al?" – Diego Bester, their leader and Alfred's big brother. Alfred Bester was actually born under the name Stephen Kevin Dexter, to Matthew and Fiona Dexter. His biological parents were both respected and powerful telepaths and were great friends with Diego's family, the Besters. However, Mathew and Fiona were killed in an accident when a ship leaving for Abbai space was destroyed soon as it jumped. Little Stephen was only two when he became an orphan and the Besters decided to adopt and rise as their own, renaming him Alfred. Alfred's parents and brother are not telepaths but he still loved them, nevertheless.

"No, big brother. A little telepathic misdirection was enough. Never seen a mind as messed up like that Lin'chan's. Reminded me of your sock drawer, Diego." – Alfred replied with a smirk and a few others in the team chuckled. Diego ignored it, though he vowed to get back at Alfred for that.

"Fiona." – Diego said and one of the team members, Fiona J. Fergusson took out a small object from her pocket. It looked like a small mouse and it emitted a soft electronic sound. The electronic handcuffs went loose, immediately. Fiona was an expert in any type of device and enjoyed her time either tearing them apart and putting them back together or hacking them.

"Alright, we all know the mission. We sneak in, capture a civilian and learn about their culture." – Diego said, though his eyes relied specifically on Alfred, Mike and Isabelle, who were all telepaths. Mike was a P3 while Isabelle was a P4. Mostly, the teams' telepaths probed the minds of the captured aliens to learn about that race' culture, social order, government and among other things. This is how the Human Empire collected intelligence: stealing it from the alien minds without letting their race know. As far as their neighbors are concerned, the Humans are peaceful, super-isolationists.

"But this time, we must at all cost avoid killing. Orders are to be friendly." – Diego explained. That was all they knew. One of the many things of their job that often made them frown was on a 'need-to-know' basis. – "For all we know, they are almost as xenophobic as the Hurr and as aggressive as the Drazi. But unlike those two, they're not stupid nor wimps. They're smart enough to wait and let us walk into a trap to interrogate us. We just got to make sure that doesn't happen."

"And that we get out of Omelos in one piece." – Viktor Kyle, the medical of the team snorted. He was a tall, dark-skinned fellow with a heavy voice and calm demeanor.

"Yeah that too." – Diego rolled his eyes.

A few hours later, the _Torturer_ opened a jump-point in orbit with a planet. Alfred re-activated his holographic disguise and took the 'prisoners' to a transport to the planet down below. His 'merchandise' was also taken to his transport. Kotaru Ishiyama was the one piloting, been the professional pilot of the team. On their way down, they could see Omelos, third planet of its solar system. The world was mainly green and blue. However, there were many spot that were dark brown. About a third of the planet's surface was barren.

Alfred dwelled on Lin'chan's memories he had probed. Since the earliest times, the 3 subspecies of Dilgar had brought war one upon another: the Dark Dilgar, the Tall Dilgar and the Prime Dilgar. The Prime Dilgar were the first to develop the first nuke and with that they conquered and destroyed their two brother breeds.

"_Imagine if we hadn't wiped out the Neanderthals during the Ice Age."_ – Alfred thought to himself the few similarities between his race and the Dilgar. Both were shaped through war in their earliest days, but after World War II, the Human race dropped out the nuclear warfare, after seeing its destructive capabilities. The Dilgar however, had long ago formed a society that could only prosper and flourish in the promise of warfare. When the Prime Dilgar established themselves has the dominant breed and exterminate the Tall and the Dark, their economy began to decay without an enemy to go to war with. There was nowhere to go but up, into space, where they found the League of Non-Aligned Worlds and vowed secretly to conquer it in a future genocidal rampage.

"Not too bad. It could be better, but it could be worse, too." – Gustavo commented. He was the linguist and first-contact specialist. Speaking Interlac, Centauri and even a few League languages fluently, he was quick to learn new languages. Recently, he had begun studying the Dilgar language from some League records.

Alfred instructed Kotaru to fly them over an inhabited but fairly green area with a system of caves. This area was far enough from the capital, because apparently the Dilgar didn't live close to their green areas so that their environment wouldn't become even more ruined. When Alfred met Lin'chan, he quickly scanned the Dilgar, trying to learn as much as possible from his race in a short notice.

"This place is perfect. The Dilgar prefer to avoid damaging their ecosystem further. So even if they learn we're here, they won't nuke us." – Alfred said, conveniently.

"Good, now let's do it, guys." – Diego said and everyone began opening two of the small crates they brought with them. One contained organic compounds and the other parachutes with stealth devices incorporated.

Kotaru put the transport on auto-pilot and everyone put on the stealth parachutes and attached some to the other crates. The spy team leaped from the transport towards the ground of Omelos. Now, the hard part of the job began.

**4th February 2226**

**Ganymede. Colony. Human Empire.**

Ganymede, a mining and civilian colony, had always been tricky when it came to terraforming. Having just about 14% of Earth's standard gravity, the planet had a hard time grasping its own atmosphere from escaping into space. Manufacturing an Earth atmosphere with extra doses carbon dioxide to trap more of the Sun's heat in the surface wasn't the problem. Problem was, those gases had to be pumped on a nearly constant basis. So, the only city on Ganymede, Marius, had artificial gravity based on gravimetric engines. A temporary solution until new technologies could be engineered. The city was also domed to protect itself from the cold temperatures.

Ganymede was breathable and pressurized, but the temperatures were still freezing, though not as cold as in the beginning. The planet was slowly warming up but with that a new problem was surfacing: the gradually melting ice crust. Ganymede had an oceanic upper mantle sandwiched between an icy crust and a silicate lower mantle. When the ice crust was completely melted, Ganymede would be an entire ocean planet. Which was why there were plans to modify Marius' underground structure into a floating device, like a city mounted on a sailing vessels. However, only in 2250 would the water begin to rise.

These plans, costing a too big penny, were put under the carpet and a different plan was taken: keep rising the temperature until a certain level. Habitable enough for Humans and cold enough for the icy crust not melt and merge with the underground ocean. That way, Ganymede would remain a snow globe, but a more habitable one. The terraforming was scheduled to be finished in the 2229.

However, Marius wasn't the only human structure built on Ganymede. On the opposite side of the planet was a domed ground military base that sometimes served as a ground shipyard, Kepler station. A shuttle was flying towards that base and was granted access. The shuttle landed on a docking bay inside the base and two Eartharmy Colonels walked out: Robert Lefcourt and Richard Franklin. Two people came to greet them: Colonel Leonard Alexander and an unknown woman of the Eartharmy New Technologies Division.

"Populum, exercitum, propositum!" – they both said and the two newcomers saluted back.

"Welcome to Kepler station, gentlemen." – Alexander welcomed then to his command. He had been in command of the Kepler base for quite some time. He then mentioned the scientist woman. – "This is Dr. Dorothy Morden. She was assigned here in the last in the last weeks to oversee the ends of this new project."

"New project?" – Franklin questioned.

"This way." – Alexander said and they followed the doctor and their college through the base to a large room like a warehouse. Inside, there were 3 long warships. They resembled Warlock-class Destroyers but the disposition of the missile silos and the hull proved they weren't.

"Colonels, these are our newest warship Destroyers, top of the line. They are Nemesis-class Destroyers." – Dr. Dorothy said.

(A.N.: The Nemesis-class Destroyer is now available on my gallery in Deviantart. My Deviantart name is orichalcosdark. Just go to the gallery and open the folder that says Babylon 5: Human Empire)

The two new Colonels took a step closer to evaluate the ships. They were considerably shorter and lighter than a Warlock. It had more turrets and interceptors, too.

"So these are the products of the rumored Nemesis Project. I thought they would only be ready in another year." – Leftcourt mused.

"That was meant to be, but the Empress demanded the project to be rushed. And the best part is: we manage to keep the design even with all the hurry." – Dr. Dorothy said and began making a first impression tour of the outside of the ships. – "These Nemesis mark the first step towards surpassing the Centauri. We managed to incorporate our own upgraded stealth technology. Now, it's even superior to the Centauri. And on the other hand, the scanners are the newest addition. They can break through Centauri stealth."

"So these ships can lock on the Centauri like the new Heavy Wingblades? And the Centauri can't even lock onto these ships in long or medium distance." – Franklin questioned, with well hidden enthusiasm.

"Yes and they would need to be at least 2000 kilometers to do it. Although the Nemesis is not as good armed as the Warlock when it comes to missiles" – Dorothy indicated the missile silos which were only two. – "it was something else to compensate. Unlike the other Destroyers, Nemesis has 6 Human-Centauri Hybrid Gravimetric Engines. This makes the ship as fast and maneuverable as the Tormentor Destroyer. It has more firepower: four heavy plasma cannons and four matter cannons fairly distributed in the forefront and aft, with a plasma stream on the forefront."

"Also, it can store more guided mines and these new mines have the advanced scanners. They can hit even a Primus Centauri cruiser with no problem of been jammed. Also it's equipped with more and better plasma turrets and interceptors distributed throughout the hull in case the ship is broadsided." – Dorothy said with a hint of pride, though unlike the Heavy Wingblades, this wasn't a project she conducted since the beginning. She had only been called when the previous chief-scientist had succumbed to a disease.

"Gentlemen, we have just built the first breed of ships that can completely outfight the Centauri in every way revolving technology." – Colonel Alexander said in triumph, though he knew as with every project there were always flaws to work out. Also, superior technology didn't guaranteed victory in a long term. The Centauri failing to enslave humanity forever is proof of that. He shoved those thoughts aside.

"These ships are atmosphere capable, aren't they?" – Lefcourt asked though he knew what the answer would be. Only that could explain why these ships were manufactured in the ground and not in an orbital shipyard. Still, it was unbelievable. Ships this size to be capable of atmosphere flight!

"Yes, they can go through any atmosphere just so long it's not Venus nor denser than 4 standard Earth atmospheres."

"But, the materials it needs…" – Franklin wanted to hide his astonishment, but his face betrayed him. The metals to make a ship resistant to atmospheric maneuver were expensive. Capital ships to have that would only exist in very, very few numbers.

"It's a new technology that XTE (Xeno-technologies Exploration) dug up on a distant world out on the Rim. It's relatively easy and cheap to replicate and add to the hull's outer structure. However, it's time consuming, so we're not thinking about making newest models to be atmospheric maneuverable." – what Dorothy didn't reveal is that the orders to go to that world came from above the higher ups. It was rumored it came from the Supreme Council or the Empress. – "Now time to see the inside." – Dorothy guided the Colonels to a rising platform and they entered a ship through the launching bay of the Nemesis in the middle. The docking bays were mostly empty, though they seemed fit to carry a respectable amount of fighters.

"These ships can carry up to four major squadrons of Wingblades, heavy or light. Also there's room for a few shuttles." – Dorothy said.

"So it works as a medium-light carrier." – Lefcourt mused.

Inside, they were toured through several compartments of the ship: bridge, engineering, docking bays, quarters, reactors, etc. The bridge was particular place of discussion.

"Just like the other Destroyer's classes, the Nemesis possesses the best type of jump-engines. They can just back into hyperspace right after jumping out. And the time to recharge the engines has been considerably decreased." – Dorothy smiled.

"I have to admit, even with lesser missile armament, this ship is still formidable." – Franklin opined. – "But what about supplies? A ship with these engines and weaponry should put more pressure on our supply lines."

"Yes, though the extra two engines can be turn off. Though that makes the ship slower, it spares the vast quantities of fuel. The engines can then be turned on again in 45 minutes." – Dorothy said. – "In average, without turning off the engines, this ship can last a longer than the Heavy Cruisers, between supplies shipments. Perhaps slightly more than the Dreadnoughts. But even turning off the engines, they can't reach the level of endurance of the other classes of Destroyers. Supplies are the main problem."

"What about the other projects to go around that problem?" – Lefcourt asked. Eartharmy had many different classes of supply vessels, though recently, the best types came out of the construction line and were already in the mass-production phase. Such were the Sagittarius-class Carriers which could carry up to 400 fighters and had a fairly good armament. The Cyclops-class Transports were the top transports for troops, able to carry 10000 ground pounders and still pack a decent punch against raid ships. These two classes, besides been fast, were a good improvement to make the supply lines less vulnerable and more rapid. And while their gravity was only 40% of Earth's standard, their jump-engines are equivalent to the Destroyers; that way they could deliver the cargo and escape back into hyperspace.

"The Cyclops and Sagittarius have proven to be quite effective. As for freighters, we have recently upgraded the Conestoga-class." – the Conestoga-class military freighters were the backbone of supply lines, fairly fast and jump-capable. – "Can carry more supplies and is better armed. Though that makes it slower, it's worth it to put less escorts in the supply lines."

"Speaking of upgrades, are these new scanners been integrated into any other warship? And the new upgraded stealth?" – Franklin questioned, frankly curious.

"From now on, every warship manufactured will have these upgrades on stealth and scanners. Same for our reserve fleets." – Colonel Alexander admitted. – "Though the Supreme Council has ordered the fleet ships to have them integrated…I doubt it will be done in time before 2228. The Nemesis Project has taken a good bite of the budget."

"When are these Nemesis Destroyers scheduled to be mass-produced?" – Franklin asked, partly wanting to change the subject.

"In 5 months, a few appointed shipyards will begin mass-producing these. The cost of these ships is still too high, but we have plans to lower it inch by inch during that time. This shall keep it within schedule as the Empress wants. Nevertheless, these ships will still have restrictions about deployment."

**3rd April 2226**

**Digging site of Schiaparelli, Mars.**

Schiaparelli was a big capitalist paradise, though not as great or attractive as Galilei. A few kilometers from the outskirts of the city there was a deep digging spot. Several teams of xenoarcheologists were manipulating deferent machines to dig deeper. They had been at that for over a week, digging every day and finding nothing.

"Why are we wasting time digging for nuthin', anyway?" – one of the workers complained. Nobody knew what they were digging for, not even the higher ups.

"I wouldn't say 'nothing'. The sensors all indicate there's a large supply of…some unknown stuff." – another said. No one knew what was beneath their feet. Only that it was. The rumors went from ruins, to technology, to a giant spider.

"I'm telling ya, it's one of those conspiracies from the government to make us buy that aliens lived here and wanted to invade Earth before the Centauri." – the first worker said.

Inside one of the offices, a brown haired man was talking with his wife through the com channel. He was Dr. Jonas Morden, the chief and supervisor of that operation. His wife, Dorothy, worked for Eartharmy New Technologies Division. While she invented new technologies, Jonas spent his time digging up old technologies.

"Dora!" – Jonas said Dorothy's nickname with a toothy smile, radiant to see his wife again, even if he couldn't hold her. – "So good to see you!"

"Honey!" – Dorothy replied with the same smile. After the prototypes of the Nemesis-class Destroyers were finished and ready for mass-production, Dorothy had gone back to Earth. Soon after, Jonas had been called for a 'secret dig' on Mars. – "How are things in your end? Can you go back home, soon?"

"No, not yet. But we're close. In one day or two maybe. Then the bosses will give me a good vacation. They say this job is very important…But once we're done, we can celebrate Dimitri's birthday." – the man said.

"Speaking of Dimitri, guess who's here." – Dorothy kneeled down and caught something, showing it to Jonas. The 'something' was actually a 'someone'; their brunette soon-to-be three-year-old son, Dimitri.

The boy grinned at the sight Jonas, without showing his teeth, unlike his father always did.

"Ah, my little man. What happened to you? Have you been feeding him growing hormones or something?" – the dad said in a goofy tone to which his son laughed lightly, even though he didn't understand him.

"Listen, big guy! Dad will still be out for a while. But I'll be back home soon for…"

Outside, the workers at the bottom of the digging hole were getting frustrated over the work. They had been digging towards the unidentified massive object buried deep in the red dirt.

"Man, I'm getting sick of this crap job!"

"Like it or not, it's our crap job and it's how we win our bread." – another worker, one more patient, said.

"What if we sped this up? We could use the turbo."

Said 'turbo' was a system that managed to double the speed of the excavation. However, it consumed a lot of fuel and if maintenance hadn't been performed a week previous, at most, it could cause the whole system to short-circuit and explode. This was first proven 10 years ago when a whole team of dock workers had the unfortunate idea of using the turbo with a digger that hadn't passed for maintenance for a whole month.

"You know maintenance on the drill hasn't been done 2 weeks ago." – the patient workersaid.

"That happened 10 years ago and those guys hadn't done maintenance for a whole month. What's a week due, anyway?" – the other insisted. – "If we use the turbo, the job will be finished in hours and we've been digging this thing up for the whole damn week!"

In time, the other worker was convinced and they activated the turbo. Unbeknownst to them, they had sealed their fates.

Back in the office, Dr. Morden had just ended the call to his home and went outside to check on the situation. An eardrum-piercing explosion was heard and the man was almost tossed back inside the office. First, large amounts of rock and dust were launched up into the air from the bottom of the crater. Next, man shouting and crying took place. Morden ran to the edge of the hole and saw a cloud of floating dust covering the bottom.

"What the hell happened here? I turn my back for 5 minutes and this happens?!" – Morden growled.

"Doctor, we don't know. We were monitoring the dig from up here when we detected an energy spike. The next thing, everything was blown sky high!" – one of Moden's employees said.

"Anything else?"

"Yes, for about five seconds, we detected the speed of the drills doubled. Then the whole system overloaded."

"Overloaded? Don't tell me…"

"Yes, they probably activated the turbo." – the employee said with a disappointed look. Morden cursed the stupid workers who had gotten themselves and some of their workmates killed. Then, the scanners began beeping.

"What is it now?" – Morden questioned, exasperated. The other xenoarcheologist looked at his Ipad-like device.

"Dr. Morden, that blast removed all the dirt between us and the target. The scanners can get a proper reading now. It's…" – the man frown, making sure he was reading the results right. – "Doctor, the scanners read it's organic!"

The surprise didn't end there; the dust slowly settled and the remaining survivors looked at the bottom of the crater. There was a semi-buried giant black spider-crab object the size of a starship. The patterns of blackness of the skin seemed to change like the tides of hyperspace. A sight that could freeze anyone's blood.

"Call the HQ. Tell them the big boys just got their toy." – Morden said, feeling amazed and fearful just to look at the dark behemoth.

**7th April 2226**

**Orion system (Hyperspace). Colonized. Human Empire.**

Commander David Sinclair was already used to his new Heavy Wingblade fighter. He was escorting a small spy-ship, the _Sherlock_ from the boarder of Markab space to Orion IV.

"_This is _Sherlock_ to all units, prepare to jump._" – the captain of the spy-ship said.

"Roger that, _Sherlock_." – Sinclair answered. He then communicated with his team. – "You heard the captain, people. Stick with her!"

The fighters approached the ship like a group of infant whales stay near her mother. The _Sherlock_ jumped into normal space and her fighters went with her. Sinclair's mind drifted a little as he saw the green and blue planet that was Orion IV.

The funny thing about the Orion system is that two of its planets are colonized rather than just one. The one they were heading was Orion IV; which was already habitable for Humans when the first colonists came. With a clean oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere and gravity close to Earth's, it never needed terraforming. The only inconvenience was the indigenous alien race that lived in the planet, but they are no more.

Now, Orion IV was a home away from home. If any Earther wanted to leave the Earth's unattractive condition, they could go to Mars, Callisto, Europa or even Ganymede. But, in case those people desired a habitable home away from the home system, for whatever reason was, Orion IV was one of the choices, along with Proxima III, Deneb IV or even Sinzar IV. Beta Durani I was ready for the final touch of terraforming: rising the global temperature just another bit.

"_Too bad we can't say the same for Orion's cousin."_ – Sinclair lamented, as he looked at a distant blue and brown spot: Orion VII, which was mostly referred to as '_Orion's cousin'_.

Now, Orion VII is a complete different story. While almost breathable, pressurized and with Earth-like gravity, it's a complete barren world. Only in the last few million years, single-cell creatures evolved, so only recently the planet has developed natural life. Nevertheless, Orion VII is rich in minerals and so miners began settling the planet and Eartharmy bases were built. However, everyone lives inside domes, since the tar of oxygen is still low and can cause hypoxia. When the atmosphere is perfectly breathable, the domes will be dismantled.

Sinclair waited as the captain of the _Sherlock_ talked with Colonel Lefcourt of the station/shipyard. The fact was that the _Sherlock_ needed to resupply, but there was a more urgent matter than that. On their way back to Orion system, one of the spies had felt terribly hill by some kind of Markab disease, which hurry everyone. The doctor on board managed to produce a counter-agent, but the poor guy needed major medical care, equipment the ship doesn't have.

Inside the ship, a certain cell of the brig was housing two people. One was a Human telepath, Lilly Winters, while the other was a male Markab, one Doctor Lazarenn. While the Human was standing on her two feet, immaculate, with an icy stare to the alien, Lazarenn was seriously injured, on his knees, terrified and begging for the pain to stop. The Markab had been tortured, both physically and telepathically. Lilly had been especially careless for his welfare:

"I will only ask once again: with what have you infected my husband with?" – she said, just a few steps from losing her temper.

"I have done nothing! I beg you…" – Lazarenn pleaded but Lilly snarled.

"LIAR!" – she snarled, unleashing a mind-slap on his face. – "He has fallen ill of some Markab disease when we were on your world!"

"It's Drafa!" – he screamed.

"What treatment is there!?"

"There is none…please, don't. Don't! DON'T!" – Lazarenn screamed his lungs out in agony and despair. Lilly unleashed her anger by perforating through Lazarenn's mind and taking every memory he had about the disease. The process was unimaginably painful for him. When she was done, Lazarenn fell sideways, his whole body shaking, and his eyes empty from all the mind violation. Lilly already had what she wanted, picking up her PPG, she decided to do a merciful thing and shot Lazarenn in the head.

She exited the cell and went straight for the Medbay. The P9 telepath was married to the mundane man that fell ill by said Drafa, Andreas Winters. She usually is a calm person but due to certain…event in her childhood, Lilly gets murderous when the life of someone she loves is at stake.

"Lilly. You finished your…interrogation?" – Ben Kyle, Medical chief of the _Sherlock_ said the last word with a disapproving emphasis. He wasn't hateful towards aliens and considered torture on any level to unthinkable. He didn't like the Centauri, but he also didn't like the idea of wiping them out.

Lilly, despite been friends with the doctor and somewhat agree with his policies, this time couldn't care less. He simply remained there looking at her husband, sitting in the bed on Isolab.

"I gave Andreas the counter-agent I made. It worked wonders. He's out of critical." – Ben said with a smile. Lilly looked at him; she didn't need to scan Ben to know he was telling the truth. – "It will last long enough until they can get him fixed in a proper facility on Orion IV. Nonetheless, I still have to determine how the virus mutated into affecting Humans and develop a real cure."

"Good…good, I…" – Lilly stammered, not knowing what to say. – "Thanks, Ben. Here, take this."

Lilly fixed her gaze on him and transferred the information she took from Lazarenn to Ben. She tried to be as gentle as she could with her friend's mind.

"Ouch!" – Ben grimaced. – "You could have given me a heads up."

"Sorry, but I had to do it before I forgot. The information was acquired very quickly." – she resent saying that because Ben gave her an even more disapproving frown. Amazing how the man could make her feel like a little girl who had just done something wrong.

"But I did the merciful thing." – she added. Ben sighed; at least the poor Markab was beyond suffering.

"So…" – Lilly wanted to change the subject, but talking about her husband could put her on edge again. – "What about your brother, Ben?"

"Viktor's off to some distant homeworld. Rumor says it's a planet called Omelos." – Ben said casually. Right now he had to make a report of this Drafa disease.

**25th April 2226**

**Lowell, Mars.**

While Galilei and Schiaparelli are more of the capitalist type, Lowell is still relatively small and houses many Eartharmy officers. One of the local officers was David Sinclair, returning home for a few weeks of leave.

The man entered the house, only to find it empty and dark. Odd, his family should be in here.

"Gemma. Malcolm! Jeffrey!" – he nearly finished saying those names when he was assaulted by a wave of confetti and three voices shouting:

"Welcome home!" – Jeffrey, Malcolm and Gemma Sinclair, his family, cheered as the lights went on. David immediately drew a big grin before his family.

Later, they were having David's favorite: a mushroom calzone with beef and chocolate cake as desert. All gathered at the dining table, David complimented the supper while he ate like a starving man.

"Honey, this is the best! It sure feels good be back home."

"Thought you might like it. Even the boys helped out." – Gemma said with a smile.

"For real? That must be why it tasted so great. So what's for desert?"

"Dog food." – Malcolm said.

"What?"

"Kidding dad!" – Malcolm giggled. Everyone laughed though Jeffrey simply smiled. Been the younger son, born in 2217, one year before Jeffrey, Malcolm was soon growing into a teaser, often teasing everyone in a playful way, despite in very young age. Jeffrey on the other hand was quiet and obedient, though he sometimes questioned his parents about their reasons and motives instead of simply obeying.

"So, what meteor hit the land while I was gone?" – David asked, using the Marsian expression to ask what happened while he was out.

"We made a report about Markab, but the teacher didn't like it." – Jeffrey said, disappointed. – "She wanted us to tell how evil they were."

"Really? And what did you said in your report."

"That the Markab were people like us, good and evil." – Malcolm said which made David smiled; his kids weren't even ten but they were developing into good morale boys.

"_Guess been taught by Jesuit priests really pays off_." – he thought with a hint of pride.

"The only evil aliens are the Centauri." – Jeffrey said in the end and Malcolm smiled. This made David sigh; well, they were still just kids.

"Malcolm, Jeff…Did you know that if it weren't for a Centauri, I wouldn't be here?" – David continued before the surprised glances of his sons. – "The Centauri let me and my team to return home alive when they had us outnumbered and outgunned. If those Centauri were evil, they wouldn't have let me go back to you in one piece, would they?"

"But the teacher…" – Malcolm began.

"Here's my first piece of advice: ignore the propaganda and focus on what you know and what you see."

"But how can we know the Centauri if we've never seen one?" – Jeffrey questioned.

"The best way to know someone is to fight it, make it angry. When it happens, you see the real thing. When people get mad, they easily tend to ignore their principles for the sake of revenge. Those who still hold onto their honor or don't let go of it instantly are the good ones. The Centauri I mentioned earlier were very angry, they…" – David refrained himself from saying what he intended. After all, classified missions are classified for some reason. Personally, he didn't really like the orders his captain gave him that day, but orders were orders. – "We were ordered to do something bad to the Centauri. They caught us in surprise and could have killed us all, but their captain simply surrounded us, demanded our surrender and let us go. I could tell he was angry but they still spared me and team. The way I see, those Centauri weren't bad people."

"But isn't true the Centauri invaded Earth?" – Jeff persisted.

"Yeah, they did. But the Centauri who did that are probably all dead by now. Would you blame someone who wasn't even born for something their father did to you?"

"No, that's just dumb."

"Exactly, and here's my second advice: don't you swear at the table!" – David reprimanded half-serious, half-joking. A few hours later, both kids went to bed. Gemma looked at her husband with a melancholy look:

"That talk you had with the kids was important you know. You're almost never at home and they need a father figure."

"Yeah, I know. But at least, they do understand I stay out there for them. For you." – David said, involving his wife in an embrace. – "Let's not think about it. For the next weeks, I'm not going anywhere."

**12th May 2226**

**Rome, capital of Earth.**

Empress Elizabeth Levy was reading a report on a dossier in a meeting room. With her were Samuel Drake and Luis Santiago, whom she trusted the most among the Supreme Council. Also were 3 Primus-Generals present. Primus was the ranking given to the officers composing the Joint Chiefs of Staff, with Eartharmy's major branches, – Navy, Army, Airforce – and a few other minor branches like Intelligence, Medical Corps, Research & Development and Construction. The 3 officers present were the chiefs of Medical, Intelligence and the Chairman.

"Benjamin Kyle, hu?" – the Empress mused more to herself than to the others, reading the name of the doctor who composed part of the report. When she was done, she gazed at Primus-General Hernandez, the Primus-General, chief of Medical Eartharmy Corps.

"Everything in the report has been guaranteed to be truth. We put the remains of the dead Markab through several tests. It confirms everything in Doctor Kyle's report." – Hernandez was a man known to speak little, saying only what was necessary. Sometimes he said even less than that.

The Empress closed the dossier and regarded everyone else with a neutral expression. While unexpected, this Markab disease could be turned into the Empire's favor:

"Gentlemen, as the report states, the Markab civilization has less than 7 months. When this time is up, there'll be little more than 10 000 Markab."

"Majesty, if we postpone our strike at the League and wait for the Markab to pass by, we can simply seize their worlds without a fight and move our surprise attack against the Vree after we set up a resupply base at Markab. Also our agents have mapped invasion route from the Markab colonies into Gaim space and Gamma 7." – Primus-General Akira Osamu, an aggressive but cunning man and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"I agree, not only spares us resources but also the element of surprise. Even if the League suspects we plan to invade them, they have no reason to. We simply need to keep our pacifist charade for a while longer and they'll lower their guard." – Roger Smith, Primus-General of Military Intelligence. He was the youngest chief of staff present.

"100% terminal, 100% contagious. Even been religious fanatics I expected the Markab to act." – Levy commented.

"Thank God our people aren't like that." – Santiago said, been the only religious man in the group.

"With all due respect Counselor, it was belief in God that led the Markab into this dead end." – Osamu retorted. He was pragmatic, only believing what he could touch, see and shoot. Levy had to agree with the man; the most unbelievable part of the report was that the Markab believed only the immoral could be tainted by the plague, which in the end helped Drafa spread even faster.

"Gentlemen, I believe we're ignoring a very important factor. What if this disease can evolve, mutate into infecting us?" – Samuel Drake asked.

"Unfortunately, it has already happened. That's how we discovered the disease in the first place. One of our spies in Markab space fell ill and was brought to Orion IV and we were able to stabilize his condition. Right now, my people are working to learn how the disease mutated into infecting us and how to counteract it." – Hernandez said, completely calm. – "We believe it will all be ready by the time we head to Markab."

"Then it's settled. Even if the rest of the League learns about this and decides to help, they'll be too late. When 2227 begins, we will seize the Markab space." – Empress decided. – "However, we must make sure the other races don't try to interfere. Primus-General Osamu, I want long-range scouts watching the Markab anti-spinward boarders and jump-routes. Also make sure they're armed. If any of the League races sends medical ships to help the Markab, blow them up but don't let them know it's us."

"Sneaky, but deadly." – Osamu said with a faint smile.

**30th July 2226**

**Omelos. Homeworld. Dilgar Imperium.**

The Dilgar Homeworld had countless times been washed with Dilgar blood. Nearly strip of its resources and polluted in the name of war efforts by the Dilgar, Omelos was still surprisingly habitable. At certain point when the Prime Dilgar developed their prototype nukes, they nearly destroyed the Tall Dilgar and Dark Dilgar. However, the planet was severely wounded. And though now the Dilgar Imperium was slightly more cautious into using weapons of terrible destruction against their own territory. Though they still made no effort to repair their ecosystem, whatsoever. Only to preserve the little they still had.

The smog in the cities was something the Dilgar were accustomed since birth. The warm, sometimes hot, weather enhanced by the greenhouse effect too. Many animals and plant extinct by destruction of their habitats. In resume, Omelos was virtually an environmentalist's worst nightmare. The only sign of ecology (though only intended for sparing resources rather than for the welfare of the environment) was the recycling of water and garbage.

In Ogkarin, the capital city, these were the thoughts going through the mind of the chief Xenobiologist military scientist, Jha'dur, as she looked out of the window of her office in the Military HQ. Her world, which many believed was impossible to change. Like her 'superiors' once told her when she said she would find a drug for immortality.

"_Impossible is but word, an idea of the weak to console themselves in their inferiority."_ – she had told them vehemently. A small smile drew on her lips. – "That should be my motto: Impossible is but a word."

"Sister!" – Sha'dur, her twin brother and military physics expert, entered in her office.

"Brother! You're back!" – the sibling hugged each other. Sha'dur had been off-world, mapping new hyperspace routes for when the Dilgar Imperium was to seize its destiny.

"Yes, it was busy but it paid off." – Sha'dur didn't go into the details. He never liked to bring business into family reunions. After a few minutes of catching up, Jha'dur's computer beeped. She had a call; it was one of Warmaster Gar'shan's subordinates. Strangely enough, the call came from the Warmaster Channel, the most secret, well-protected com-channels of the military.

"Commander Jha'dur, Warmaster Gar'shan is calling you to his quarters, at once. Same for Commander Sha'dur."

"Very well…but why are you telling this through Warmaster Channel. You know only the Warmasters themselves can use it." – she said this, disguising her interrogative and censuring tone.

"Warmaster orders." – with that he turned off. The Dur siblings glanced at each other. Gar'shan was Warmaster of Military Intelligence and a senior officer which Jha'dur and her brother respected and trusted entirely.

Ari'dur, their father, was Gar'shan's old second-in-command and was killed in a Drazi incursion. So the two chose to serve the military with the best tools they had: their minds. Sha'dur was an expert in physics, always exploring new invasion routes in hyperspace and Jha'dur was with biological and biochemical weapons. In the last years, several specimens from different races had been brought to her for experiments into developing plagues to wipe out these species and… other certain goals.

"Why is Warmaster Gar'shan summoning us, like this? And in a Warmaster Channel? This must be a reunion of some higher ups." – Sha'dru mused.

"But, you know we tow are not part of the higher ups." – Jha'dur noted.

"But Warmaster Gar'shan knows we're not some random officers." – Sha'dur said with a grin of small pride.

Gar'shan immediately noted the twins for both their talent and their antecessor when he first met them. He gave them an opportunity to prove themselves in the best facilities. The Ogkarin Military HQ was the largest, most well provided military facility in the planet with enough room for training countless hundreds of soldiers and employing the best scientist of multiple areas into the war effort. Before long, both Jha'dur and Sha'dur became respected and envied by many other scientists and were granted rank in the military as Commanders.

When they arrived, the guards let them in. There he was, Gar'shan, in all his might, one of the best Warmasters in the history of Omelos. Both junior officers saluted and the senior saluted back. Gar'shan's quarters were far more decorated and furniture than their own.

There was nobody else around. It was just the Warmaster, Jha'dur and her brother. This was definitely not a meeting, and Jha'dur was sure it couldn't be just a social call, either.

"Jha'dru…Sha'dur. How have you been?" – Gar'shan said with a rare smile and looked specifically at the young man. – "Glad to be back from your hyperspace charting?"

"Yes, I am Warmaster." – Sha'dur response was somewhat hesitating and Jha'dur couldn't blame him; Gar'shan was acting in a strange way, like he was concealing something. The Warmaster took a small black box and placed it on the table, where he sat down and invited them to sit with him. The small box projected an holographic map of the galaxy, from the core to the rim.

"The League of Non-Aligned Worlds." – Gar'shan indicated in the map. – "What do you two think about them?"

"They are weaklings which we will crush when the time comes." – Sha'dur said confident.

"So, you Sha'dur believe the League is inferior to us in every way." – Gar'shan noted that Jha'dur hadn't answered the question.

"Absolutely, Warmaster. But not just the League; we're better than anything else in the galaxy." – Sha'dur responded in the same tone.

"Then, what would be the outcome if every race in the galaxy decided to join forces against us from this same instance?"

Sha'dur's face went blank. Jha'dur could see he had walked right into a trap.

"Well…we would lose, Warmaster."

"Exactly. We may be superior to any other race, but it's not because we are simply stronger than them. It's also because we're smarter, faster, and more practical. We plan before we act. And when things don't go as planned, we adapt. Aggression, discipline, planning, adaptability, technology and money. These are the main principles of modern war. If one is lacking or ignored we will be defeated." – Gar'shan discoursed.

"Warmaster" – Jha'dur finally spoke. – "We have planned to invade the League for years. We maintain a good intelligence about our neighbors without them knowing. Our soldiers are trained to be aggressive, merciless, obedient and adaptable. Everything we have is invested in warfare technology development. We show to the galaxy a face of peaceful isolationism to hide our true intentions. This proves we follow every one of the principles. So, what is your point, Warmaster?"

"What if a war to be possible to win would require allies?" – Gar'shan carried on, ignoring Jha'dur question. This caught the two Commanders unexpected.

"Warmaster, with all due respect, only the weak rely on allies. We never needed allies when we fought the Tall and the Dark." – Sha'dur said.

"Because the Tall and Dark were our kin races. We knew them so we didn't need help. But the galaxy out there has much more than Omelos has." – Gar'shan decided it was time to change the topic. – "What do you know about a race called…Humans?"

"So far, no Dilgar has officially seen a Human. The Centauri claim they look like themselves. They say the Humans are an inferior breed of Centauri." – Jha'dur said, which sounded like more Centauri propaganda, though there were always claims in a few of the League worlds that was mostly true. – "All we know for certain is that the Humans maintain themselves as…peaceful isolationists?"

Realization hit Jha'dur like a thunder stroke the ground. She glared at her superior without blinking. Sha'dur only understood it three seconds later.

"Sir, are you saying these Humans are…like us?" – she asked, forgetting the formalities for a second. – "You have met them, haven't you?"

"Going back to my question, if you wanted to fight a war you couldn't win, would you make an alliance with a race powerful enough?" – Gar'shan ignored what Jha'dur asked him.

"I would, though it would require sharing the spoils with the allies." – Jha'dur then smirked. – "Though, we could deny them what we promised them, if they were too weak to oppose us, after the war."

Gar'shan smiled at her and got up, turning off the black box.

"Follow me." – Gar'shan took them to one of the underground rooms. These corridors were heavily secured and guarded and their existence was known only in rumors. The guards beside a thick soundproof door stepped aside and the three Dilgar entered after Gar'shan ran a scan of his finger print, retina and identification. The door opened and closed right after they passed through. Inside the hidden room were tables, equipment and beds. Also, several figures, none of them Dilgar. One of them, a man with red hair looked at them:

"So, Warmaster Gar'shan, what brought you here, tonight?" – Alfred Bester asked with a smug grin.

**9th September 2226**

**Rome, capital of Earth.**

The Imperial Palace played once again stage to another meeting of the Supreme Council and the Empress to officially receive reports and vote on matters.

The only one talking was a young man reporting the results of the newest anti-spinward expansions: the inhabited worlds Beta 9 III, Beta 7 IV and Ceti Gamma II have been established as boarder/research colonies a few years back. Beta 9 was an outpost to keep an eye on the Markab. Several ships sent found a world called Theta II, occupied by an Iron Age race called Vakeshin.

The man was dismissed, as the Council had to vote on what to do about the new race. The options were three: extermination of the Vakeshin, leaving them alone, or adopting them as a protectorate of the Human Empire.

"Now, we must vote. What to do about Theta II?" – the Empress said, her voice echoing through the chamber.

The choice taken was (much to Clark's and a few other's dismay, who wanted to wipe out the Vakeshin) a mix of the last two options. For a while, secret expeditions would go into the planet and capture a few Vakeshin. Then proceed with telepathic interrogations to learn about their language and culture. In the end, if it was possible, the Human Empire would establish themselves as visitors from the stars. When Orion IV was discovered, their inhabitants were wiped out. This later proved to be a bad idea because the Orions appeared to have had a good knowledge about their world. Knowledge that the Human Empire had to learn by itself.

On other matters, the Quantium-40 mining operations on the worlds Arisia III and Cyrus III are going steadily, second only to Europa's, the oldest Quantium-40 source of the Empire. XTE had stumbled across Arisia III when they were heading rimward to a dead world. Cyrus III had been a boarder military outpost for some time, but when it was learnt it contained vast quantities of the material, the Empire commanded its extraction. The problem was that now more people were moving the Cyrus III, beginning to settle their own business, mostly as agriculture. While this was good to make the colony more autonomous, it was also dangerous. Cyrus III was a frontier post and allowing too many civilians there was risky.

"On other matters are what to do about the Cyrus III. Should we support settling business and major colonization on the colony?" – the Empress opened the next topic. This one was more discussed. It was decided to support those movements, but the profit would be especially used to better protect the colony so the extra money was invested into the base and fleet guarding the area.

At night, Empress Elizabeth Levy was walking a corridor of the palace along with Counselor Samuel Drake, her long friend and oldest member of the Supreme Council. They were discussing the recent meetings, and eventually the topic turned to some of the Counselors who were giving more trouble.

"Clark was never a very good combination. Young, arrogant, narrow-minded…How did he ended up part of the Council, anyway?" – Levy asked.

"He has connections and the attitude. Many people elevated him to that position in hopes to influence the Council. People in the government that prefer to call the shots from the shadows rather than sit on the throne themselves." – Samuel reminded her, he and Clark never got along. He accompanied her to her office. Suddenly, a courier entered.

"Majesty, the report is here! The one you wanted to be given exclusively to you." – he announced, handing Levy a data crystal. She dismissed the courier and Samuel frown at the crystal.

"Elizabeth, is that…"

"Yes, it is." – she responded with a nod. Being old friends, the Empress and the Counselor addressed each other without formalities when they were alone or among other friends.

Levy inserted the data crystal into the groove and the screen displayed a report about an object that was found on Mars, a giant black spider-like object.

"That is the ship that your associates told you about. So they were telling the truth, uh?" – Samuel admitted. Only the Empress and a few of her trusted Supreme Counselors knew of the discovered ship. Eartharmy's Research & Development Corps was thinking of a new design for a whole class of heavy cruiser. Now, they'll start studying the black-spider ship, trying to understand and adapt its technology to future ships.

"So it seems, though I didn't had much doubt about that. The technology they gave us to complete the Nemesis-class Destroyers was proof they could be trusted…to a certain level, that is." – the Empress said. She didn't trust her associates a bit, but she knew every help the Empire could get help to increase the odds of success for when the war came was necessary.

"This ship isn't one of theirs, is it?"

"No, they claim it's a ship from their masters. An ancient race."

"They why haven't those master introduced themselves to us?"

Levy frown at that question. She had too wondered that. Her first guess was that these masters preferred to operate from the shadows. Her associates had been very mum on that matter.

"Guess I'll have to ask my associates about that. Again."

A while later, the Empress retreated to the Imperial Suite. Before going to bed, she looked out of her window, watching Rome glowing in the night.

"How much did you hear of my conversation with Samuel?" – she asked, though there was nobody else in the room.

"Everything. Makes us believe you don't appreciate our help." – or so it appeared. There was in fact someone else in the suite. From the darkness, a par of red eyes belonging to a hard-scaled face stepped into the light. The scales appeared to be rock rather than skin and four horns, made of somewhat misshapen bone came out of the back of the creature's skull.

"I see you still don't understand Human character, Shiv'kala." – Levy smirked, not taking her eyes of the window. – "I do appreciate whatever the Drakh have to offer. I just don't trust you. After all, the Orieni did that mistake and paid the price. Though…" – as this, Levy smirked even wider. – "you paid an even steeper price, didn't you?"

She heard Shiv'kala groan silently. She knew she had hit a nerve when she mentioned the Orieni. Though, the Drakh was also surprised; when had the Human learnt about what the Orieni did to them?

"We only abandoned our agreement with the Orieni because they proved to be weak. Our masters warned us the Orieni were already slaves of the Vorlons, but we didn't listen. This time, we are taking their guidance entirely. They are pointing to you. They see your race has great potential." – Shiv'kala said, though his voice held no compliment. Then he added. – "And, it was very thoughtful of you to bring the Dilgar into this war."

"And that is why you are helping us?" – Levy asked rhetorically, finally turning to him. – "Guided or not, I still have no reasons to trust you completely. Especially since you like to poke your none-existing nose into my meetings. That's how you like to operate, isn't it? Elusive lies and whispers in the dark."

"We offered the coordinates to the dead world K064 III where the atmosphere-armor technology of the Nemesis was found." - Shiv'kala reminded her. – "On the way to there, you discovered Arisia III. And we gave you a present from our master themselves, the Shadow Vessel on Mars."

"Yes, and I'm sure that was all done out of the kindness of your hearts." – Levy retorted. – "But since we're talking about trust, why don't you start by telling me more about your masters? The ones who are rumored to have not being around for 1000 years. The ones you call Shadows."

**23rd December 2226**

**Vega VII. Colony. Human Empire.**

In the beginning, life on Vega VII was hard and cold, the upper atmosphere toxic with too much O3. Which was why only served as an orbit-and-ground military frontier outpost to counter any Centauri attacks. It marks the Human Empire-Centauri Republic frontier and recently the Centauri have been slightly more aggressive. So the Empress and Supreme Council wanted Vega VII to be more self-sufficient. Less than 2 years of atmospheric tampering had been enough to change it into a more breathable and hotter world without disturbing the ecosystem beyond repair.

Later had been discovered Vega VII was a rich deposited of gems and rare minerals. With a small but sufficient sea of fresh water created from mined ice, the city of Vega VII, Putingrad, prospered. Once they manage to produce their own nuclear reactor fuel, the colony will have achieved total self-sufficiency. Due to this and its isolation from the core empire, its 5000 inhabitants developed _alien_tastes.

Out of nowhere, a jump-point formed and a Warlock Destroyer jumped, towing a crippled Centauri Altarian-class Destroyer.

"This is captain Alisa of the _Hermes_, to Moscow station. Do you copy?"

"_Confirmed _Hermes_!_" – the station officer responded.

"We succeeded in capturing a Centauri ship scouting our space. We decided to bring the prisoners here for _questioning_." – Alisa said with a hint of emphasis on the word.

Down on the streets of Putingrad, two small siblings, William and Marcus Cole were playing. They were the offspring of the owners of the Cole Mining Corporation, the main company that mined the raw materials that made Vega VII into the jewel it was.

"Hey, Will! What you think we'll have for Christmas?" – Marcus questioned, stopping their child's play.

"Don't know, but I can't wait for Christmas supper!" – William said which made Marcus roll his eyes. William mostly thought about food. The only reason he wasn't chubby was because of his high metabolism. They headed back home, a small but attractive mansion. Their dad was running the company and their mom, who was an extraordinary cook, was somewhere else. – "Come on. Let's go help with the Christmas supper."

In an underground facility, the Centauri captain of the captured destroyer was taken to a room and strapped to a table. The Centauri tried to struggle but to no avail.

"Hello, are you comfortable?" – a sweet voice asked. From the shadows, a woman walked towards the strapped alien. He didn't answer, so she repeated the question in Centauri. Yet, he refused to answer; this time though, he had understood her question, he just didn't want to answer.

"You better answer that question or I'll leave you with less one 'attribute' until you talk." – the woman, Mrs. Cole, threatened. It took him a few seconds but he finally answered.

"No, I am not." – the Centauri took a long breath. – "So, I suppose you will begin torture now."

"Torture, of course not. Christmas is right around the corner. It's time to celebrate. Eat, drink and be merry!" – the woman said in a jolly tone.

"Your word-play won't trick me you creature. You Humans are barbarians, monsters! You slay, you torture, you loot, you…" – the Centauri couldn't say anything else for Mrs. Cole was now clenching his throat in her right hand with an amazing strength, choking him.

"Barbarians? Monsters?" – she asked slowly, her voice shaking with anger unleashed. – "You tell that to our people when you invaded Earth, over a hundred years ago. Tell that to all those people who burnt when you leveled our cities. Tell that to the little girls your soldiers raped when you landed troops in our world. Tell that to the starving refugees your troops used as target practice. Tell that to the 1 million people you tortured for 5 whole weeks before you spaced them. You tell that to the 3.2 billion Humans who perished with your little escapade!"

Mrs. Cole slapped him and let go of his throat.

"What is your name?"

"Captain Sorul Mollari." – he said reluctantly. – "What have you done with my crew?"

"Your crew is fine. I told you; it's Christmas! They will be joining us in the Christmas Eve!" – she adopted the same joyful tone. – "You see, we one Vega VII _love_ aliens, especially Centauri. Which is why you and your crew will join us at the Christmas Eve table with everyone else on the colony."

The next day, 24th December, everyone in Putingrad was at a domed coliseum, sitting at their tables. Since most of the citizens were employees of the Cole Corporation, every year, a large Christmas Eve was organized by the company for all the citizens. Every family was merrily sitting at their table, waiting for the Cole to open the festivity. Each table had a large plate covered with a convex metal cover.

Even though religion is pretty rare, humanity continued many of its predominant traditions, giving them a new meaning, however. Christmas was no longer a day celebrating the birth of a Messiah but a day when Humans gathered in a merry supper and dreamed about the day they would rain fire and stone on Centauri Prime.

"Dear guests, friends and co-workers!" – Mr. Cole rose from his chair with a glass of wine in his hand in a jovial speech. – "For 61 years, we have been free from our oppressors. 61 years since we have begun celebrating and dreaming of our eventual war with the Centauri Republic. Another year has passed and yet we have not forgotten our vow to leave Centauri Prime like the Centauri left our world. Once again, we mourn for those we have lost and rejoice in the future we shall carve in the galaxy. Let the feast begin."

Everyone opened up the plates. Each one had large chunks of nicely arranged and smelling meat. On top of the meat was the head of a man with a crest hairstyle and an apple forcedly shoved on their mouth. The head of a Centauri! The faces of the former Centauri crew were crystalized in fear like they were in their last minutes of life.

What they saw would disgust and even horrify any non-Vega Human. But the people of Putingrad simply cheered in joy to learn that their supper would be Centauri.

"Centauri! My favorite!" – William Cole cheered, taking a portion of the left leg to his plate. Marcus took a portion of the right arm. Mrs. Cole watch her children eating the alien like it was nothing. She looked straight in to the eyes of the Centauri captain she personally vivisected and cooked alive. She raised the glass of wine in her hand.

"Merry Christmas, Captain Sorul Mollari!"

**Dorothy Morden and Jonas Morden were only referred by their surnames during their first appearance. Now they're both referred to by their first name since they're both doctors and I don't want to cause confusion. And for the Human-Dilgar alliance, it'll be explained in the next chapter. For those who are in doubt, here are the members of the spy team on Omelos:**

**Alfred Bester – P12, high-trained telepath**

**Diego Bester - leader**

**Mike – P3, physics specialist, trained in martial arts**

**Isabelle – P4, infiltrations specialist, trained in martial arts**

**Fiona – technician and hacker**

**Gustavo – linguistic, first contact specialist**

**Michael Garibaldi Jordan – cousin of Alfredo Garibaldi, whose son is named after. Weapons and tactical combat specialist.**

**Viktor Kyle – older brother of Ben Kyle. Medical specialist.**

**Kotaru Ishiyama – professional pilot.**


	4. Spark triggers the avalanche

**THE HUMAN EMPIRE**

**This is the year everything changes. It is the year when half of the galaxy burns and wastes away while the other half watches in silence and horror. The year is 2227, the year when the Humans and the Dilgar came for the League.**

**On other note, I've been updating the previous chapters in regards of the terraforming of Human colonies. Ganymede will be finished in 2229 and Europa and Callisto are already done terraforming. But because of low gravity, not animals nor plants can be introduced. Beta Durani I and Orion VII are the only major outer-colonies on the process of terraforming. Proxima III, Orion IV, Sinzar IV or Deneb IV don't need it.**

**Weaponry of our warships as also been changed. Particle weapons are now replaced by more Centauri weapons of the 2160s like Matter cannons.**

**Chapter 4: Spark triggers the avalanche**

**4th January 2227**

**Ssumssha (aka Abba). Homeworld. Abbai Matriarchate.**

Ssumssha, often called Abba by outsiders, second planet orbiting the Abba star, was virtually an ocean planet. The only marks of land were the multiple swirling island chains like mountain ranges that had been almost entirely claimed by the sea. With so much water and a general temperate climate, warmer in the equator, Ssumssha is also a planet of severe storms, making flight difficult.

For such a somewhat turbulent planet, Ssumssha gave birth to one of the calmest, most pacific races in the galaxy, much contrasting the raging sea: Abbai.

Abbai first belief was that all life was sacred, which could be proven by watching their society. For instances, hazardous works were never manned but always automated. Even the military Abbai preserved the lives of their own soldiers by relying on defensive technology, mines, satellites and automated fighters and kamikaze shuttles.

Most homeworld Abbai lived in the major city states. These cities were located in specific location where the storms were less frequent and less devastating. Two of them were the most remarkable: Vinaa, the capital and City of the Marti, which was the Government Centre.

In the second city, a majestic palace was built in the outskirts of the city with direct access to the ocean. The palace houses the Marti, the council of 200 females that ruled the race and the Natar, the leader of the Marti.

In a veranda of main chambers was Natar Tinti, watching the ocean. Today was an unusual sunny day on the City of Marti. The warming bright day couldn't lift the weight in her heart that had been caused a handful of weeks ago when the news spread of the Markab Crisis.

She heard someone entering the hall. It was a young male Abbai, Captain Puul, with a data crystal. Despite been in the middle of advanced telecommunications age, the Abbai put some emphasis on tradition. Such as having people transporting messages that could simply be transmitted.

"Honorable Natar Tinti, we just returned from our mission into Markab space." – when Ssumssha heard the Markab were dying out for some kind of plague, the Marti voted for sending a humanitarian fleet to the Markab. – "Our ships were blocked by a fleet of heavily armed warships. Human warships."

This especially captured the Natar's attention. The Humans were known throughout the League as an expansionist/isolationist species which got into space through invasion by the Centauri. When the League discovered the Humans, they were invited to join the League. An offer the Human Empire refused. They only gave one piece of information besides that: 'If you don't bother us, we won't bother you.' A handful of League members, including the Brakiri, had sent a small expedition into their territory. Nobody knew what happened to them. The Human Empire had assured those fleets had run into different kinds of accidents, from distortions on hyperspace to technical malfunctions. After that, everyone decided to take the Humans' advice. The only race that constantly entered their territory and was known to be met with deadly force was the Centauri.

"Humans? They never showed any interest in leaving their borders." – Tinti stated.

"Here's the recording from our ships." – Puul handed over the data crystal which was played in the screen. Displayed was the Markab homeworld, seen from afar in space, surrounded by long grey colored vessels.

"_This is captain Puul of the Abbai fleet to Human vessels. We are on a peaceful mission._" – said a male Abbai voice.

"_This is _Heracles_ of the Human Empire. You have no business here. Withdraw._" – the Natar noticed the Human captain didn't bother to introduce himself. The voice was deep enough to sound like a male's.

"_We are here to help the Markab population who has fallen ill to the Drafa plague. Our fleet is carrying food and…"_

"_Then it's with great sorrow that I must inform you your journey was in vain. The Markab Theocracy is extinct. The disease wiped out the on-world and colonial population."_

The recording was interrupted by static. Natar Tinti stood there, allowing the meaning of the message to sink in.

"What happened? Where's the rest of the recording?"

"Jammers. The Humans started to jam our equipment before we could get closer." – Puul turned crestfallen. – "Though, they did allow us to scan Markab and the colonies. The dead-toll is confirmed: not even a single Markab life-form detected."

"By Honraati." – the Natar called out the name of the greatest Abbai philosopher, he who created the 3 laws and founded the society of the species. There was nothing more she could say. No words could express what she was feeling. To think that one of their sibling races was gone forever.

The Markab were the only race, besides the Hyach, who accepted membership on the League right after they were invited. Every other current member race had to deliberate for a while before eventually accepting the offer. They were entirely devoted to religion, even being a space-fearing race since the War of Darkness, a thousand years ago.

Tinti once spoke with one of the major Markab Theocrats. The man was a perfect example of what it meant to be a Markab: religious to the core, believer that every single event in the Universe was an enigmatic action of the Great Maker and incapable of accepting any other beliefs or explanations for anything. There had been rumors that the leaders of the Markab had forbidden the plague to spoken of and even prevented any research for a cure, claiming that their morality would protect them.

The more one thought about it, the more they would realize it wasn't the plague that was their downfall, but their own narrow-mindedness.

"To survive so much…and to fall by their own hand." – Tinti whispered, her face like someone who had lost a dear and good friend forever.

By this time, the whole League learnt of the Markab demise. The Hyach mourned, like the Abbai, and wondered how their Council of Elders didn't predict this. The Drazi felt little more than sympathy and muttered this was the result of centuries of religious fanaticism. The Brakiri self-described their own mourning like 'a competent seller who had just learnt he had lost a good business partner'. The pak'ma'ra claimed the universe had decided it was time for the Markab to leave the plane of existence, so embarked to Markab to eat the corpses like it was their divine duty. The carrion-eater were infuriated to find out the Human Empire denied them that. In the following months, the Marti and Natar made several attempts to persuade the Humans to abandon Markab space. They stated the fallen race deserved their territory to be untouched and left as a memorial. The Human Empire gave no response, whatsoever.

**11th January 2227**

**Centauri Prime (fka Durana). Homeworld. Centauri Republic.**

Despite the fact that the Centauri Republic has severely dimmed in the last century, Centauri Prime, formerly known as Durana, was still one of the most famous worlds in the known galaxy. Being slightly cool and hosting 3.4 billion habitants, one would wonder why a major race's homeworld has a fairly low population.

As one of the oldest space-ferrying races, the Centauri people had witnessed much in their time. The first was the Xon War which made them rise has the dominant species of the planet. By the time of the Centauri Industrial Age, the last Xon said its last _'Aaaaauggghh!'_ and the Centauri structure was born. The families of the war-leaders became the Noble Houses and General Tuscano rose as the first Emperor.

Nearly two decades later, the young Republic would face another challenge: the Shogrenn Invasion. Thanks to little technological gifts offered by his Technomage associates, Emperor Tuscano beat back the Shogrenn. The invaders left behind some of their space-ships which helped the Centauri leap ahead.

One thousand Earth years previous, the War of Darkness was threatening to consume the galaxy. Remarkably enough and been new to the galaxy, the Centauri managed to avoid been burned by staying silent behind their small borders and refusing to take part in the war, when a Minbari named Valen asked for the Emperor's help.

Next came the Orieni War. Back then, the Republic was starting to diminish and the disastrous war made it crumble even more. It also sparked the Centauri Civil War which caused a chain-reaction shrinking their empire even more.

Now the current Emperor Turhan was sitting on the throne, his mind always haunted by the affairs of state and a few regrets. His Prime-Minister Javal of the House Virini was a quiet man, seemingly always nervous and somewhat superstitious. He was also loyal to his superiors, somewhat of a pacifist, and incapable of having a secret agenda. For many nobles, that sounded impressive and unbelievable, knowing the fact that he rose to Prime-Minister.

"Majesty, in one hour the Centaurum will be ready to discuss this matter." – Javal said quietly.

"I'm well aware of my schedule, Prime-Minister." – Turhan said patiently. Having become Emperor 5 years ago, Turhan still had to gain the trust of a few in high places. The matter in discuss was of the recent Human activity that had become spoken in nearly every world from the core to the rim.

"_Humans…_" – the Emperor thought. – "_Our people passed through so much and we've learnt the wrong lessons. And now, as the Humans say, we've opened Pandora's Box when we invaded their world."_

In the last generations, the Centauri faced a new challenge: their own weakness. Centuries of unchallenged conquest and conflict made the old Republic grow soft, lazy, divided and decadent. And as icing on the cake, the dimming Republic sealed its fate by trying to enslave a race that looked remarkably like them: Humans.

That species had recently achieved stellar travelling, though they were still bound to their home system. It was easy to cease the planet and the Humans. But the Centauri made a grave mistake; if they had studied Human history before the invasion, they would have never pointed a gun at Earth. The more they tried to control them, the more the Centauri came to realize that if one tries to stomp on the Humans, they will rise up again twice stronger than before and will inflict thrice as much pain as one did to them.

As a result, the Centauri Republic lost even more face to the other empires and sowed the birth of a deadly enemy that refused to surrender or die and was devoted to consume the Centauri: the Human Empire.

"The people don't stop whispering about it. It's in the streets, the markets…even in the temples." – Javal Virini said, matter-of-factly. – "Many are stupefied that the Humans have come out of their borders. Some even say they might make an alliance with the Orieni and attack us."

"No, the Orieni don't want anything with the Humans and I doubt the Humans want anything with them. Besides, the Orieni learnt to not bother us from the war." – Turhan then added grimly. – "_I just regret we learnt no lesson from them."_

Turhan believes the Human will soon advance. Unlike most of his people, he recognizes the Humans have a destructive amount of hate.

"Majesty, if I may." - Javal asked. – "In the past, the Emperors made expansion programs when faced with similar problems. Perhaps it is time for one more."

"Prime-Minister, need I remind you that my father, former Emperor, did the same. He gave the order to invade the Human Homeworld and this menace was the result. The Humans have a saying: 'what goes around, returns around' or something along those lines. The old ways will not work." – the sovereign shook his head. – "We have to change our ways. There's more than one way to build an empire."

Soon enough, the Emperor was gathered with the Centaurum, a group of nobles, the only possible limitor of the Emperor's power, all sitting in their chairs, pretty similar to the Supreme Council of Earth. The Emperor sat in the middle of the room. Everything about the Centauri was to appear impressive, even when it clearly wasn't. It's called a republic to sound civilized, despite been the government known to have left the galaxy filled with strip-mined worlds and dead or enslaved races. As a matter-of-fact, none on the government was selected by popular vote, making it a monarchy rather than a democracy. The head of state is an Emperor, just to sound strong, ancient and almighty rather than having a more just and modern rule. Many races would call them barbarians and primitive for legalizing slavery and not allow women to dictate politics. The Centauri claim that 'inferior races' cannot hope to comprehend their 'superior ways'.

"It is open motion number 123948." – the Centaurum chairman announced. His name was Malachi, one of the older members and the easiest to reason with. – "Motion to decide on the matters concerning the Human aggression."

"I believe the matter is obvious. We must expand beyond our borders." – Legator Iruno Refa, conservative of the old ways. – "The Humans are no threat to us, though I advise a strike at one of their outposts. That should send them a message to stay away from our ships."

Most of Centaurum sees the Human Empire as a barbarian people who appear impressive on the outside but in reality shake in fear behind their borders. The fact that Humans easily preyed onto the ships and incursions sent to their territory slipped from their minds.

"I agree."– Legator Ural Kiro. – "Those creatures prey on defenseless ships for no reason, no provocation."

"I believe the _defenseless ships_ you mean are actually warships that choose to go on unauthorized incursions in their territory and are shot down because of that." - Allezir Cotto retorted. Despite the fact he didn't like Humans, he could see when it was his own people who was at fault.

"Are you saying those barbarians aren't to be blamed for the problems they're causing us?" – Iruno gave him an icy glare.

"No, they are to blame, yes. But only when they're at fault. If we inflict severe penalty on the ships that go into their territory, I assure you the numbers would drop." – Allezir replied. Turhan remained silent, hearing the all 'conversation'. Unlike many previous Emperors he believed he should be quiet at first. If he was the one who started talking, many Legators wouldn't be totally honest with him. When one speaks to an equal, like Legator to Legator, one tends to say what they really think.

"I believe many of us are ignoring some facts." – Legator Adillo Mollari announced with his powerful voice. – "We have noticed a great improvement on the technological level of the Humans. They are, at this point, close to match our own warships. The last reports even claim they have surpassed us thanks to some stealth technology."

This got the murmurs whispered throughout the chamber. The only major race that was technological superior to the Centauri was the Minbari, but they have been quiet for a very long time.

"Gentlemen." – Turhan finally spoke, drawing the attention of every Legator in the room. – "I believe a pre-emptive strike will only spark more trouble. The institution of severe penalty to any crew that goes to Human territory unwanted is the logical and safest choice."

"However, there are other measures we should take, concerning especially an expansion program." – Turhan paused for effect. Many in the room, like Iruno and Ural, were grinning discretely. They expected the Emperor to begin a conquest campaign like so many others had been performed in the past. They were in for a surprise. – "One thing is for certain, the Humans might move from the Markab space and expand further. If that happens, we must be prepared. Seizing worlds won't keep us saved. It will only create more enemies. Our best chance is to seek out allies. Expansion not trough territory but through diplomacy and alliances."

This shocked many of the Legators. Only a handful of Emperors had ever considered that option. Most had simply said 'Centauri were made to rule'. But, like he had said to his Prime-Minister, that was the path that lead the Republic into this predicament, in the first place.

It all comes down to the Humans. From all the conquered races, they were the hardest to control and the quickest to turn against their oppressors and beat them back. Also, the Humans were recently known to be military organized, good strategists and tenacious. All of these were characteristics the Centauri had lost long ago. In the end, these men hated the Humans for not bowing to them, envy them for their spirit and fear them for their so fast advancement in a matter of less than 200 years. It's easy to dismiss that what one hates, envies and fears. But Turhan knows they have been silent all these years for the opportunity to unleash their anger to the galaxy.

"Ever since our victory against the Xon and then the Shoggren, we believed conquering was our way to victory. However, our Republic has been declining even before the Orieni War. For many times we tried to expand by our old ideals and the last attempt not only proved to be foiled but it also got us a relentless enemy." – Turhan made another pause.

"Majesty, if I may…" – Iruno intervened. – "Those attempts failed because we were undoubtedly doing it the wrong way."

"I agree. Our mistake was trying to conquer more worlds, in the first place." – Turhan heard Iruno stutter. That was definitely _not_ what the Legator had meant. – "We need allies, not races to subdue. It's time for the Centauri republic to build bridges rather than chains."

"But, Majesty, we're somewhat limited in those options. The League hardly wants to have anything to do with us. The other major powers either ignore us or, in case of the Humans, hate us." – Allezir opined.

"There's a new power coming to the starts. The Narns. As of thirty years ago, they found a jump-gate and expanded from their home-system at an astonishing rate." – The Legators were somewhat confused the Emperor knew that. Most Centauri didn't care about the affairs of other races, except when it concerned them. While the Narns have made a few unofficial contacts with the Centauri by trade ships, the growing Narn Regime was still unknown to the Centauri Republic in general. – "They have resources we can trade and they already have good relations with a few other races. They are expanding, not through conquest but with diplomacy."

After some heated discussion, the Emperor convinced the Centaurum to act has he had seen. The Centauri Republic would contact the Narn Regime officially.

**20th January 2227**

**Immolan V. Colony. Centauri Republic.**

The largest and oldest Centauri colony, Immolan V is one of the jewels of the Republic. It's a secondary homeworld, ready to take the place as capital of the Republic, should anything happen to Centauri Prime. It's a beautiful, balanced, unpolluted world, used as a second home rather than a strip mine.

With one supercontinent, it was expected to be a desert in the center. However, the supercontinent has several somewhat shallow seas and deep rivers, feeding water to the core of the land, making it green and lovely like the coast line. Been founded nearly 900 years ago, the Centauri homeworld was still marked by the pollution of its Industrial age, so Immolan was for the Centauri what Mars was for the Humans. Even though today Centauri Prime's ecological scars had been fully healed, Immolan still occupies a great place in the hearts of the Centauri.

In the capital, Fugoro Prima, two young noble men, Londo Mollari and Urza Jaddo had just returned from another duel of Couro Prido. Londo and Urza had met in young childhood, as their two Houses have always been great friends since the dawn of the Republic.

"You improved your skill, you crazy liati. You could almost have. Almost." – Urza put a teasing emphasis on the word.

"You never stop bragging, you silent beast." – Londo scoffed. Both were proud and ambitious, anxious to prove themselves to each other and their families. That was, after all, the dream of all young Centauri.

"Well, look you decided to lay down your coutari for a while." – well, almost all young Centauri. That was what Londo thought when he heard the sneering voice of Antono Refa.

**(A.N.: Harry-Potter-and-Ron-Weasley-VS-Draco-Malfoy scene)**

Antono Refa was the future leader of his House. The House Refa was powerful and a very power-hungry one, for that fact. That House has set the throne as its goal and would do anything to achieve it. When the Centauri invaded Earth, House Refa tried to subdue the Human at any cost because they believed that was the key for a whole rebirth of glory. That way, they ended up performing the greatest atrocities during the occupation. It was Antono's father who convinced the Emperor of the time to order the 5-week torture.

"What do you want, Refa?" – Londo shot him a distasteful look.

"I just wanted to see how you're dealing with all of this Londo. It must be very tragic for you."

"What are you talking about, you Na'ka'leen?" – Londo retorted.

"You mean you don't know?" – Antono had now a delighted smirk. – "That must be why you're so cheerful. Oh, well, my condolences."

"I asked you what nonsense are you saying?" – Londo persisted, his patience wavering.

"No need to spoil the surprise." – the arrogant man continued smirking.

"Why don't we settle this like tradition tells us to?" – Urza proposed. It was an old tradition, when a noble didn't want to reveal information to other noble, concerning that same man, they should engage in a Couro Prido duel. Should the bearer of the secret win, he couldn't be force to reveal it. But both knew people of the House Refa never fought. They preferred to keep their hands clean rather than get them dirty in a fight. The only fights they actively got involved into were the one-sided slaughters when it was the Republic doing all the killing. Such as the invasion of Earth.

"No, I don't think so." – Antono said, turning around and walking away.

"Coward!" – Urza muttered under his breath. Jaddo and Refa were two Houses that never got along. For all the history of the Republic, they had always disagreed and been at each other's throats in times of division. During the Civil war that sparked after the debacle with the Orieni, that division increased even more. House Jaddo was strongly against the occupation of Earth, while Refa was all in favor.

"Ignore him. Let's go to my house. I have some aging Brivari." – Londo offered. House Mollari had a household on the capital. But when both young men entered the hall to see Igoran Mollari, Londo's father, sitting on a chair, covering his face with his hand.

"Father, are you alright?" – Londo asked, worried. Igoran showed his face, moist in tears.

"Son…I just got word. Those three times damned Humans…" – despite his desolated look, he still managed to put a lot of hate when he mentioned the name. – "they returned your uncle's remains."

Urza decided to step back, quietly and went outside, giving a quiet excuse that he needed some fresh air. Londo clenched his fists. His uncle Sorul went to the Human border to probe any intrusion after some Human vessels were sighted. Later it was found out that his ship went missing. Everyone assumed he and the crew were all dead, though many believed they had fell victims of a Human attack.

"It was the Humans, wasn't it, father?" – Londo asked, though he already knew the answer. Igoran didn't give an answer right away. He merely looked outside of the window.

"Sorul's remains were in the same state the remains of his crew were. They…"

"They tortured them?!" – Londo spat in rage.

"No, Londo." – Igoran shook his head, joylessly. – "The remins were but bones. Some of them were even broken and had their marrow sucked out."

"Bones?!"

"They also gave us a data crystal. It showed…" – Igoran seemed ready to weep. – "those…_things_…feasting on their flesh. Great Maker, Londo! They _ate_ Sorul like he was an animal!"

Londo exploded in a torrent of enraged Centauri. It was amazing that one man seemed ready to cry his hearts out while the other was roaring like a mad animal.

"MONSTERS! FEINDS! CANNIBALS! ACCURSED HUMANS!" – Londo's insults kept growing more and more offensive, soon reaching the level of swear. – "I'LL KILL THEM ALL WITH BARE HANDS!"

Sorul was always is favorite uncle, brother of his mother, and Igoran's best friend since childhood like Urza was to him. When finally Londo calmed down, he looked at his father with bloodshot eyes.

"We must retaliate for this! House Mollari must have its revenge in blood!"

"No, it won't Londo." – Igoran abandoned his mourning state and adopted a more severe one. – "The Emperor has forbidden any…expeditions to Human space."

"But, nothing!" – it seemed amazing and disconcerting that a man that was just weeping like a child could now stand up and look as impressive as a sovereign. – "The Emperor has spoken! As much as I want to squeeze the life out of every Human, we can't. You will do as His Majesty says even if you don't like it, as every member of this House had to do, one time or another."

Londo nodded quietly, though his hearts were burning with anger. Family, honour, duty…those were the things he had always been thought to put before everything else, even his own happiness.

**1st February 2227**

**Proxima III. Autonomous Colony. Human Empire.**

**(A.N.: I had to re-upload this chapter because it had an error: Orion III is no colony; it's actually Orion IV)**

One funny fact about Proxima system is that it's almost a twin of the Orion system. Both systems have one habitable world that never needed terraforming – Orion IV and Proxima III – and a planet that is possible to settle in, but pointless – Orion VII and Proxima IV. Proxima IV is habitable but dangerous. Filled with predatory life and deadly plagues, it's merely used as a GROPOS training camp and small research outposts.

Proxima III was the first major colony off-home system of the Human Empire. An Earth-like planet, with three continents and thriving plant life, discovered about a decade after the Centauri were driven off. But unfortunately for these plants, their ecosystem was destroyed when Humans started to introduce plants and animals from their homeworld. Today, Proxima III's biosphere is virtually undistinguishable from Earth's.

Not needing terraforming at all, Proxima III began been roughly after Mars, which made the generations that grew on the colony to differ from Earth more than the other colonies. Proxima III was home of many cultures that no longer exist on Earth. Namely, religions. From every world in the Empire, Proxima III is the one that looks mostly like Earth before the Centauri came knocking on their door. With nearly 900 million habitants and still growing, it almost matches Mars' population.

"Yossel, you really are departing." – Andrei Ivanov sighed, walking up to his old friend, Yossel Koslov. Both Russian Jews, they lived in New Moscow, one of the largest cities of Proxima III, close to the Northern pole. Both were observing the grey sky at a balcony. Yossel was a Rabbi and a good friend of the Ivanov family. Andrei was married to Sofie and the two had a son, Gannya, born one year ago.

"Yes, old friend." – the Rabbi said.

As of two months, some people of Proxima III had become outraged by the occupation of the Markab homeworld. Those were called by most of the population as 'Believers'. They were the few Humans that still believe in deitys. When the Centauri came and even after they were driven from Earth, most of humanity assumed their God had abandoned them. Christianity, Judaism, Islamism, Buddhism and all others were mostly forgotten. Only on Proxima III and Orion IV they still lived in the minds of some more forgiving Humans. On Earth and even Mars, the only cults were those that described aliens as demons and the Centauri as the worst of the lot. The Believers were the last Humans who truly still believed in God, those who didn't let hate overcome themselves.

"Self-imposed exile won't solve anything. If I didn't you better, I would say you were all running away from the problem." – Andrei said calmly, his tone conducting no offense.

"Andrei, this is more than an act of protest. There are many races who might be willing to help us. If we can get support, peacefully removal of our people from the Markab space is possible." – Yossel sighed.

"There's no point trying to stop you, is there?" – as Yossel gave him a shook of head, Andrei sighed.

"Shalom, my friend." – Yossel wished.

"L'hitraot!" – Andrei said. Yossel just hopped his friend was right about that.

"_B'ezrat HaShem._" – Yossel wished in his thoughts, turning away from his friend. In the next days, the news channels of the Human Empire:

"_The earlier reports are now confirmed. All over the outer colonies of the Empire, mainly on Orion and Proxima systems, thousands of devotees of several faiths went into self-imposed exile in deep space as an act of protest against the occupation of Markab space. They will remain cut off from the Empire until the planets belonging to the former Markab Theocracy are left alone as a memorial._"

**1st April 2227**

**Ren-kal'ta. Homeworld. Tal-kona'sha Virtuality.**

The dark and frozen world of Ren-kal'ta, covered in iced continents and oceans of methane, orbited a withered star. Once, it was filled with green and blue, one of the loveliest and life-flourishing planets of its age, surpassing Ralga with its five moons and Earth with its gigantic reptiles of the Jurassik. A world that gave birth to two species. But, unlike Centauri Prime, Earth and Shri-Shraba, those two races managed to live in peace and unite in a whole government.

But a few millions ago, the star that gave Ren-kal'ta life began to die, cooling off the Tal-kona'sha homeworld. The two united species, resenting the need to evolve, simply 'ran away'. Deep in the planet's mantle, where was still warm, a large city called Klonasha was built. In there, 1 billion sentient organic creatures lived.

In a completely dark room, where one could see no doors, no furniture, not even their own hands, telepathic messages were been exchanged.

"_What do you see?_" – a mental voice impregnated with age.

"_I see."_ – a voice of a female replied.

"_Go and see. You have the blessing of the Linkage."_

And so, the female Tal-kona'sha went away, departing in her personal transport that resembled a giant corepod from Earth, to Dilgar space.

**31st May 2227**

**Ogkarin, capital of Omelos.**

"I hope you understand, Mr. Zurowski." – Sha'dur tried to appeal to every bit of his patience. While the alliance with the Humans was still unknown to the public, only the Council of Warmasters and a few higher ups in the military knew about it. Even the Emperor was unaware about it. The sovereign of the Dilgar Imperium was but a figure-head, a puppet of Gar'shan the recently appointed Supreme Warmaster. Gar'shan's predecessor died months ago and he was elected the new Grand Strategist of the Dilgar Military. Those few Humans were given a secret residence in the Military HQ.

"I understand perfectly, but we had a deal. Supreme Warmaster Gar'shan accepted out terms." – Alojzy Zurowski was the Human ambassador to Omelos, a stubborn bureaucrat who was never willing to make a bet unless he knew the other side would make an even greater wage. Also, he appeared to enjoy making other people lose their patience with him.

"Your terms specifically say we would only attack once we're ready." – while Sha'dur had no mission to go out for a time, he was appointed liaison with the Human emissaries.

"Let's not go to subterfuges, Mr. Sha'dur. You know the Dilgar Imperium has been preparing for a war to invade the League for a long time. Longer than we have, actually. Otherwise the Empire wouldn't have chosen you to be our allies." – Zurowski noted. Sha'dur muttered under his breath; while what Zurowski said was true, the Dilgar still believed they would only begin their invasion in the next generation. But their new business partners made them speed up their plans, should the Humans be planning to take the whole League.

"You're asking more than what we agreed to. Remember we can pull the plug whenever we want." – Sha'dur warned. – "If you want our help, then prove we can profit something by aligning ourselves with you."

The Dilgar knew he had this one! He had just backed Zurowski on a corner and the only way for him to get out of there was for his government to take the first step into the coming war. In other words, Zurowski had to make the greater wage, which he never did willingly.

The doors opened and a young, short figure came. He was Abdul Baseer. Unlike Zurowski, Baseer preferred give his opponents more room to maneuver just so long he could profit in the long run. He was younger than Zurowski and the two weren't exactly friends, though they didn't actually despise each other.

"Sorry for the interruption, gentlemen. I was sent to assist Ambassador Zurowski in the negotiation." – Baseer said. He then turned to Sha'dur.

"Commander Sha'dur." – he used the Dilgar's rank. – "The Empire has agreed to conduct ships to assist you in your confrontation with the Abbai, Hyach and even Drazi."

"Yes, but only after you dominated most of the rimward League. The only major power you will be facing is the Vree Conglomerate." – Sha'dur insisted. The Humans would have to face the Cascors, Descari, Gaim, Ipsha, Llort, Vree and Yolu. Among these species, the Vree were the most advanced, while Yolu and Descari were the toughest. But fortunately for the Humans, none of these races (except perhaps the Vree) had a well-explored Empire. Most of their colonies weren't very fortified.

Now the Dilgar would have to deal with the Abbai, Drazi, Hyach, Brakiri, Alacans and Balosians. The last two weren't much of a problem, but the others were travelling the stars before the Dilgar and their colonies were guarded by forces not to be underestimated.

"What if we win a major battle against a though opponent?" – Baseer offered. – "Would that convince to be fully committed to our agreement?"

"Yes." – Sha'dur answered simply.

"But, let's not forget this is a two-sided alliance. The Human Empire also needs proof that it is profitable for our race." – Zurowski tried to intervene.

At the end of the day, a bargain was struck: the Human Empire would engage the Vree at the same time as the Dilgar strike at Alaca and Balos. For each side to make the mutual accord official to its people, the other would have to prove itself by winning the first major conflicts. Unbeknownst to everyone, this was an agreement that would be recorded in History of both races for ever.

"What about the fresh test subjects for Commander Jha'dur?" – Sha'dur asked as a last note. He referred to his sister professionally, preferring to avoid showing any relation before the Humans. Despite the fact that Gar'shan trusted them a little, Sha'dur did not.

"In about a week they will be here." – Zurowski muttered, but tried to sound polite. Those fresh subjects were dead Markab; Jha'dur was curious to analyze this Drafa virus.

Several hours later, Commander Jha'dur was on a private talk with Supreme Warmaster Gar'shan, regarding the agreement between the two worlds.

"They have very good chances of defeating the Vree." – Gar'shan said without hesitation right after Jha'dur asked him if the Humans could keep their end. – "What do you think about it, Jha'dur?"

"I…don't know." – Jha'dur admitted. She didn't like saying those words. As a scientist, she dreamed of finding answers to questions. – "I know virtually nothing about Humans or their History. I really have no vote on that matter."

Gar'shan grinned; should he have asked that question to other Warmasters, they would have dismissed the Humans as primitive and stagnated people who would be crushed by the Vree. But not Jha'dur. She was his favorite student for that reason. A true commander of armies and, eventually, a great Warmaster if Gar'shan had anything to say about it.

"You already talk like a true Warmaster, Jha'dur. To win is not just to know our strengths and the enemy's weaknesses. Is also to recognize our own flaws and the enemy's powers."

"Know you enemy." – Jha'dur recited. – "Those were the words you said many times to your soldiers."

"And also the 13th strategy of _The 33 Strategies of War_. Know Your Enemy: The Intelligence Strategy." – Gar'shan said in a strange sigh of familiarity. Jha'dur gave him a confused look.

"Sir?"

"Words written by a Human, some time ago." – Gar'shan took a large data crystal from his poked and hand it to his apprentice. – "Bester gave me this before he and his team departed. A full summarized record of their warfare history, including a little about their culture. Read it in your free time. I believe you'll find it quite…" – Gar'shan paused and smiled at this. – "…familiar."

"Thank you Warmaster. I will." – she took the gift from her master and friend as if it was a new born child. – "But, there's other matter I wanted to discuss. Though it's partly also concerning the Humans."

The Supreme Warmaster tilted his head in interest, like a curious cat.

"As you have heard, there have been some rumors among the Imperium, even in the League that the Humans were the ones who unleashed the plague that killed the Markab." – Jha'dur said, adopting a partly deductive stare, as if she was saying that to herself more than she was saying it to Gar'shan.

"Humm. And, what do you say about it?"

"I have my doubts. I know the Humans are advanced enough to bio-engineer a virus, but something tells me it just doesn't add up."

"I would say" – Jha'dur continued after a short pause. – "they learnt sooner about the Drafa plague. I wouldn't be surprised if they had spies in every League world, seeing how they managed to reach Omelos undetected. So they prepared to seize Markab space when their species died out. Although the plague must be at least partly artificial, I don't think the Humans were the ones who unleashed it. They either found out on their own, or someone tipped them off."

"What makes you think all of that, if you haven't even analyzed a sample of this plague?"– Gar'shan asked, deep down enjoying the deductive trance Jha'dur was going into.

"Diseases can't be 100% contagious and/or fatal, Warmaster. This already proves the plague was definitely launched by someone. Also, look at the place and timing: this disease wiped out an old space-ferrying race that was on the border of the Humans right when they were ready to launch an invasion. It might be coincidence, but if the Humans knew from the beginning this would have happened, then someone did this as a favor to them. Probably they have more allies than just us for this invasion."

"I recognize that look." – Gar'shan said with an amused smile. Jha'dur looked like a cat stalking a prey. – "It's the same look you display when you meet a mystery and you settle to solve it as your goal."

"Supreme Warmaster, you know I never resist a good challenge. Especially if said challenge can fight back."

And so it began! Both empires secretly prepared their fleets to mobilize. Supreme Warmaster Gar'shan and Empress Elizabeth Levy both had the same thoughts in their minds.

Should the Human Empire succeed in subduing the Vree, Gar'shan would have the Emperor announce to Omelos that humanity was their allied and their friend.

Should the Dilgar Imperium triumph in conquering Alaca and Balos, Levy would talk to her people that the Dilgar are their allies and their friends.

Unbeknownst to both of these parties, a solitary ship was in Dilgar space observing the aggressive navy engaged in a wargame. It was shaped like a corepod and was undetected by its unbeatable stealth. Inside, a female Tal-kona'sha whispered:

"And the spark has been ignited."

**1st June 2227**

**Dorac system. Uninhabited. Vorlon Empire border.**

Brother Theodore Ankises was walking through the corridor of the _Forgiveness_, the flagship of their Christianity fleet. In the last four months, more and more ships of Christian groups had joined them as they ventured out of the Human Empire.

The young monk looked out of an empty oration dome. These domes were spread throughout the ship and were used for collective or individual prayers. He saw 46 of other ships like the _Forgiveness_, each carrying at maximum 12 000 of believers. Theo sighed; there were other religions which broke away from the Empire and went into the stars. It's rumored that some them tried to go into Markab space, only to find the military blocking the way.

"Brother Theo. I expected to find you here." – it was a woman. A nun with a face fairly wrinkled. Sister Helena was one of the oldest and wisest sisters on board. But what made her prominent among their order was her gift. Sister Helena was a telepath, or as the Christians say, a Soul Seer. Telepaths who follow any religion are usually trained not to see the thoughts of other people but rather their emotions and spirits.

"Sister Helena. I was merely wondering."

"About what has happened?" – Sister Helena was a P-10, though she would never peek into the thoughts of anyone. She merely felt the emotions drifting from their minds. He didn't reply; they merely stood there, observing the dark see of stars and their sister ships. Helena and Theo were friends, having met several years before.

When the news of the occupation of the Markab homeworld and colonies was released, Helena and Theo were on their way to Sinzar IV aboard the _Forgiveness_, accompanied by two other ships. From there, they were joined by other ships from the colony and journeyed to Beta 4 and then to Dorac. Right now, every ship in the fleet had spread out to scan the system and find out if there was any habitable place for the crews to catch their breath.

"Theo, I just received the reports. There's no place in this system for us to land." – Helena said in a sad sigh. Sad, but also slightly hesitant. Her and Theo were, after a fashion, the captains of the _Forgiveness_. The order the crew the _Forgiveness_ was a mix of a monastery and a convent. When they broke away from the Empire, Theo had the idea of contacting one of two races that were rumored to have vanquished a Darkness that threatened the galaxy long ago: the Vorlons and the Minbari.

Helena was a bit insecure about this. Both races were known to enjoy their privacy and liked no visitors. Plus, Helena, been a Soul Seer, feared something worse was about to be unleashed. And by asking help from other races, they would be dragging those same races to horror she foreseen.

"Then, we must depart." – Theo turned away and walked to the bridge. Despite been relatively young, he was devoted and wise, which granted him a place of respect among his fellow monks.

"Are you sure of this, Brother?"

"Sister Helena. I fear we have no other choice. Even if every faithful man and woman rose against this outrages occupation of Markab, the government would likely ignore us." – Theo answered.

"I know, but …"

"You're still tormented by that fear." – Theo said that not as a question. Helena had revealed her premonition to him before. – "Sister, I'm also reluctant to do this, but I see no other choice."

"Neither do I, friend. Nonetheless, we must be cautious. The Minbari might be more receptive to our plead, but the Vorlons attack anything that crosses their boarders." – Helena said. The Human Empire had sent two expeditions into Vorlon space. Once they crossed the border, contact was lost. Needless the say, none of them return, though weeks later, debris of the expedition ships were found drifting away from Vorlon space.

"Which is why we will remain behind the border and try to contact them from there."

**3rd June 2227 (two days later)**

**Ventox system (edge). Colonized. Vorlon Empire.**

The fleet had jumped out of hyperspace just behind the border, in the far edge of the so called Ventox system. There, every ship stopped, the _Forgiveness_ in the front. In the bridge, Sister Helena and Brother Theo were watching the view. One of the stars, a yellow-orange one, was bigger than the other. It was the star of the system and by now, certainly, the Vorlons should have noticed they had company.

"Anything yet?"

"No, Brother Theo." – one of the bridge monks said, watching the scanners. Then a sign beeped. – "Wait, we've got something!"

Multiple jump-points formed around the fleet and from each one, a bizarre ship came through. They resembled squids with four large petals on their conical heads.

The Vorlon sentinels positioned between the Human fleet and the system, like giant squids protecting their younglings. For a moment, Helena thought they were going to attack. What was worse, their ships had no weapons at all. Only hard hull. However, the ships simply remained there, not moving.

"Communications?" – Helena said.

"They're sending us a message in Interlac. Using auto-translator." – another nun said.

"_Leave. You are not ready."_ – said the monotonous voice of the auto-translator.

"Record this message in Interlac and send it." – Theo said. It had been decided he would be the one talking. – "Greetings. We are self-exiled travelers from the Human Empire. We come to seek you to ask for your help. Our world has committed a grave sin in occupying the territory of the deceased Markab race. We've come to ask you to peacefully liberate Markab and its colonies, for is no one's right to grave rob."

"Recorded and sent." – the nun in the communications said. Minutes ticked by and no response.

"No response, yet."

As Theo pondered on what to do next, Helena looked at the ships. She could swear she heard a faint musical sound emitting from them. The nun walked slowly to the window of the bridge and placed her hand against the protective glass.

"Sister Helena, what…" – Theo gasped.

"I can hear them. They're calling to me, telepathically."

"Sister, that may not…"

A beam of rapid light shot through one of the Vorlon sentinel ships and passed right through the glass, hitting Sister Helena and knocking her out.

"Sister Helena!" – Theo grabbed her before she hit the floor. – "Call a trauma team!"

"Brother Theo, something is happening out there. We've got an energy spike!" – one of the bridge nuns said in a tone of panic, but next calmed down. – "Wait, they're not firing."

Theo left Sister Helena in the hands of another monk until the medics came.

"What's is happening?"

"Energy is building up inside one of the sentinels. It doesn't seem to be a weapon, though. Scanners are having a hard time picking up anything else." – the bridge monk said. – "Oh my God!"

Everyone in the fleet that could watch the said Vorlon ship was stupefied. From the hull of the sentinel came a luminous humanoid figure with white light wings.

"Ariel!"

"It's St. Francis of Assisi!"

"No, it's Gabriel!" – all over the fleet, Christians all gave different responses. Some bowed down, others simply knelt, and even others remained up looking hypnotized at the angelic figure. One thing that nearly everyone did was praying.

Theo, however, was one of the few that remained silent, staring at the angel that came out of the alien ship. Even though the angel was in the vacuum of space, wearing no space suit, where no sound could be heard, he talked and the whole Christian fleet heard its words:

"Go to where the renegades converge."

After that, the angel re-entered the ship and the Vorlon sentinels retreated back to hyperspace, leaving a stunt human religious fleet behind. Even though she was still unconscious, Sister Helena pronounced some faint words:

"Korel IV… Krich II…"

**(A.N.: Don't confound ****Krich II****, an uninhabited world on the Rim, with ****Krish II****, homeworld of the Krish race on the League.)**

Soon after, the Christian fleet retreated out of the system and jumped back into hyperspace. The Vorlons watched the young race' members leaving. Inside his ship, Kosh sighed:

"The avalanche has started."

Hours later, Sister Helena woke up in the infirmary, claiming to have had a premonition:

"We must go to Korel IV to meet the others. Then we'll travel to Krich II where we'll live and prepare for the coming darkness that our people are falling into."

**5th June 2227**

**Approaching Vreetan system (Hyperspace). Inhabited. Vree Conglomerate.**

This was it. After this day, there would be no turning back. Those were the thoughts drifting in Admiral Yamada Harukaze, the red-haired woman in her mid-fifties commanding the First Invasion fleet. She was commanding the flagship, _Heracles_, a Titan-class heavy cruiser.

The heavy cruisers built by Eartharmy were an amalgam of a bit of every other type of ships. The armor and big guns of the dreadnoughts, anti-fighter defenses of a destroyer, scanners of the scouts, the carrying capacity of a carrier and even tube to transport bombardment nukes like a bombardment ship.

The fleet is standing by in hyperspace hiding by staying closely off the beacon and stealth at maximum. The Vree were known to be extremely good navigators. But with their hyperspace probes destroyed ahead by the scouts and the fleet advancing in a parallel line to the route, they couldn't know the enemy was nearly at their doorstep.

The 3 former Markab worlds have been turned into supply worlds for the war, having been settled after precautions against the Drafa plague had been taken. The First Invasion fleet came from the former Markab homeworld, fully supplied and ready for an assault at the Vree homeworld.

"Spark triggers the avalanche!" - was the signal and the fleet went into Vree space using the Markab jump-route. First they destroyed the Vree Xeecra mobile trading post on the way to Vreetan. Loses were minimal, only a few ships damaged and fighters destroyed. Also a Vree scout force was eliminated when they tried to probe the approaching Human fleet.

"_Phase 1 complete. We managed to slip into Vreetan's doorstep undetected_." – Harukaze thought. Now it was time for phase 2. She just needed to wait for a report of a scout task group sent ahead.

"Admiral." – her second in command, Captain Trevor Hall. – "The scout task group has reported in."

**(A.N.: Trevor Hall is the captain that carried out the orders to kill civilians in the blockade of Proxima III in the show.)**

The admiral had sent several scout ships accompanied by a few Tormentor-class destroyers for extra escort. Those Destroyers were captained by people who knew how to keep a low profile, reason why Harukaze hand-picked them.

"The Vree home fleet is organizing and calling out a few vessels from their colonies, massing everything into a defensive fleet. We didn't gave them much time, though. They must have detected the scouts but didn't bother to engage of pursue; they had bigger priorities. Also, because of that or maybe because they had not time, no mines were detected waiting for our entry on the system. The jump-gate is locked and thoroughly monitored." – Hall said, neutrally.

"Good. Now patch me through Major Pain of the _Vladimir_." – Harukaze overheard someone on the bridge trying to contain their laughter but ignored it. Major William Pain often got remarks like those. He was the officer in command of the Raid Task Force. He got that command thanks to his long-term thinking.

"_Admiral."_ – a dark man, Major Pain, responded through the com channel.

"Major, we're about to initiate phase 2. I'm ordering the bulk of our scout forces to joint your task force and advance like it was planned. Every raid task group will have at least one Nemesis-class destroyer." – Harukaze said, emotionlessly.

"_Confirmed_."

"Destroy any Vree scout parties and probes you may find. Also, if possible, destroy any solitary Vree capital ships you come across with. These are your orders." – the woman then gave a slightly more emotional glance. – "And good luck, Major. Populum, exercitum, propositum!"

"_Good luck to you too._ _Populum, exercitum, propositum! _Vladimir_ out_."

And the joined Raid Task Force departed, to initiate the 'attack'. The mission they were assigned to were several hit-and-run attacks on the edges of the Vree fleet. That was one of the purposes of the Nemesis destroyers on every task group. They could jump in the middle of the target, wreak havoc, and then jump out of there once the job was done.

In about 24 hours, the main exchange of fire would begin. This truly is a day for History. She turned to the bridge crew and ordered.

"Open a channel to the whole remaining fleet." – she ordered. Major Pain and his people wouldn't need to hear what she was about to say. Knowing him, Pain would give them a similar speech.

"Confirmed, Admiral." – Hall said.

"Alright, if everything goes right, in 24 standard hours, we will be fighting the first battle of this war. I know you all are confident in victory and that may be true. But don't forget we are not perfect. If there's one thing every race has in common is that we all make mistakes. Sometimes we win and other times we lose."

"So listen to these words spoken by a Human wiser than me: Defeat is a common fate of a soldier. There is nothing to be ashamed of in it. The great point is whether we have performed our duty."

**6th June 2227 (one day later)**

**Vreetan VI (aka X'ilix/Hyperspace). Orbital outpost. Vree Conglomerate.**

The raids had gone smoothly. Sometimes they weren't even able to inflict major damage, but that was no big deal. Their intentions weren't exactly to weaken the Vree, nor to demoralize them, since they're reported to be emotionless. These raids were meant to blind the Vree for when the Humans came, but since they were spread throughout the Vreetan system, it would work as a ruse.

The Raid Task Force was gathering at the X'ilix beacon in hyperspace, the sixth planet on the system counting from the sun. The most recent raids had been focused on the Vree forces in this area. X'ilix was the like Vree version of Jupiter. Biggest gas giant on the system, with the jump-gate and a monitor station orbiting around it and an asteroid belt nearby.

Major Pain his thinking about the overall strategy. He has known Admiral Yamada Harukaze for some time. Her motto is 'use the enemy's weakness against them, before using your own strength' and that's what the plan, all along. Despite the Vree never allowed outsiders on their world, they shared their history with the other League races. Information like that could be found in any library in the League.

The Vree, been incapable of speech, inter-communicate through telepathy. Because of this, members of their race feel empathy towards one another; what one Vree feels, all Vree feel. This made war unbearable for them. There has only been one Vree war which makes them very unfamiliar with warfare business.

They rely on their unique antimatter weapons in battle and very rarely change formation or adapt tactics. Also, they think too logical. An attack that at first appears to be illogical, but in other point of view is logical can easily confuse them. This is their weakness and Harukaze intends to exploit it before calling all of her forces to fall upon the Vree like flies over a carcass.

"Commander, status?" – Major Pain requested.

"All the ships are here. We're ready to go, sir." – Ari Ben Zair, XO of the _Vladimir_ spoke with a harsh tone. Even been just a second in command, Ben Zair was known to be one of the meanest, most inflexible men in Eartharmy.

"Any probes? Mines? Anything?"

"No sir, the scouts have just jumped from normal space. No alarm and no traps. All destroyed."

"Good." – Pain looked again at the timetable. It was now the moment. – "Tell the other ships it's time. Once we jump, break and attack. Jump!"

The _Vladimir_ opened a vortex in the red storm of hyperspace, followed by the raid task force. They jump in force in X'ilix and attacked the monitor station.

One of the squads, commanded by David Sinclair, was launched by the _Vladimir_. Aboard his heavy Wingblade, Sinclair kept his people is a flexible formation. This station could fire anti-matter torpedoes and everyone would need space to dodge.

"Alright, birds. Form up on me. Our targets are the anti-matter torpedo launchers." – Sinclair said. While the torpedoes were deadly, the capital ships could intercept them with plasma weapons. The fighters were more maneuverable and could avoid been hit. After the air groups finished disabling the weapons of the station, it would be just a big target for the big guns to pulverize.

Projectiles shot past him. One almost had him but Sinclair hadn't become a Commander for no reason. Ever since the Battle of Britain, the Sinclair bloodline had been bonded to aircraft. From the Second World War to the now League War. One of his squadron, Lieutenant Isaac was hit. He didn't manage to eject in time.

There would be time for mourning later. It was one the hardest lessons a soldier had to learn: be ready to lose their friends. Sometimes to even abandon them to their deaths. Fortunately, the rest of his team managed to keep up with him without been blown to kingdom come.

"_God, it's huge_." – it was even bigger when seen up close. – "We got firing range! Let the bodies hit the floor!"

He locked onto one of the torpedo tubes and pressed the firing button.

The _Vladimir_ approached the station, escorted by a Tormentor-class destroyer. Major Pain watched as the their target was getting crippled by the waves of fighters. Despite the danger, it wasn't very common the fighters that were hit. Turns out the upgraded stealth pays off. The rest of the task force was engaging the few Vree ships in the proximities. By now, the Vree fleet should be aware what they were doing.

"Major, most of the torpedo launchers are been dealt with." – Ben Zair confirmed.

"I can see that. _Churchill_" – Pain spoke to the Tormentor accompanying them. – "Some neutron covert could come in handy now."

"_You'll have it, sir." _– the captain of the _Churchill_ said. The Tormentors were the only warships, besides the heavy Wingblades, that possessed neutron based fire power. Scientist had stumbled across it by accident and tried to develop weapons based on neutrons. Unfortunately, the weapons they managed to make were small and too power hungry. Reason why the Tormentors only have small interceptors of neutron nature. Larger ships would require more batteries which would exhaust the engines.

"All fighters, break off! Get the hell out of the way!" – he only gave one moment to check if the birds had got it. – "Front batteries! Fire!"

Matter and heavy pulse cannons were ablaze by the _Vladimir_, while the _Churchill_ intercepted the hits meant for its companion. Soon enough the Vree station was a miniature artificial supernova.

All over the ship, men and women cheered at their victory. This was the first domino fall. The Vree fleet will believe the Human Empire will attack from X'ilix beacon, since logically the strong gravity of the gas giant and the asteroid belt make the perfect camouflage for jump-point formation. Everything has to be made in schedule for the strategy to work.

"Call all task force ships and hold position. Maintain scanners at maximum. Now we wait."

"We've got a coded message from the main fleet." – Ben Zair touched his earpiece. – "Decoding."

"_The rats have gone after the cheese."_ – the voice sounded like Admiral Harukaze's. Pain grinned; she always had a touch for choosing coded talk.

They didn't have to wait much. As of 1 hour later, the long-range scanners beeped as hundreds of saucers came into view. Despite looking all the same at long distance, one more careful look could tell the saucers have different sizes, colors and weaponry. It was one of the advantages of those designs that one couldn't tell if a saucer in the distance was either a dreadnought or a light cruiser without advanced scanners.

"And the _rats_ have arrived." – Ben Zair used the term mockingly. – "Vree warships coming in with weapons hot."

"Tell every ship to hold position. Do not advance nor open fire unless commanded." – the Major ordered. Ben Zair didn't like leaving an alien ship without been blown up. The Vree launched fighters, all shaped like saucers but with more visible engines. The pilots of the alien fighters could be seen, slender and bald, in the domes that were the fighters' cockpits.

"Vree fighters approaching. Estimate in five minutes we'll be in firing range, sir."

"Then prepare to get us out of here in 4 minutes." – Pain replied. As the four minutes ticked by, the Vree were coming closer and the Major could sense the tension building up.

"Open a channel to all ships." – Pain said. – "All ships, prepare to jump at my mark…Jump!"

In the moment the Vree fighters were about to fire, multiple jump-points formed all over them, atomizing the small vessels and leaving the bigger saucers momentarily surprised. The Raid Task Force immediately dived into the vortexes, leaving the Vree behind.

"Put us on a course for the Vree homeworld. Full burn!" – Major Pain ordered. If everything went as scheduled, the _real attack_ would be starting right now.

**6th June 2227**

**Vreetan (Hyperspace). Homeworld. Vree Conglomerate.**

"It's time." – Admiral Harukaze never liked pitched battles; she doesn't like giving the enemy any kind of choice. One would think that made no sense, since she waited an all day before attacking which gave the Vree more time to organize. However, that would be compensated for she knew this planned patient attack would assure more Human lives would be spared: the Vree fleet around the homeworld was even more diminished. – "All ships, jump!"

This was the full strategy all along. The assaults and raids all over the system were to confuse the Vree and also to take a few bites at their forces. Then the major assault at X'illix was to make them assume the fleet would come through there. Expecting that, the Vree sent to X'ilix more ships than necessary to eliminate Major Pain's forces. Unfortunately for them, Pain didn't stick around. By now, the Vree at X'ilix are wondering what happened, looking for traps and survivors. And now, the fleet guarding Vreetan is but a skeleton. This is a type of strategy that would only work with a Vree General. Been too logical and having no warfare experience, they would never suspect the 'invasion' at X'ilix was a ruse.

The Invasion fleet jumped in formation, ready for battle. The arrival stunned the Vree, but there was no way they were letting surprise or panic crippled them. That was one of their advantages. They adopted their standard square formation. They didn't launch any fighters, however.

"_So they think we plan on pulling the gag Pain did."_ – Harukaze deduced.

The Human fleet made it different. The _Heracles_ stood in the vanguard middle, with other heavy cruisers. Surrounded by port and starboard by dreadnoughts and other big sized cruisers. These had the best armor among the fleet, making them better suited to take a few shots from an anti-matter shredder. Smaller cruisers, like the Caesar-class were sandwiched between the center of the fleet and the flanks. Destroyers, with lighter armor, were used as side escorts, making the edge of the fleet.

The only irregularity was the starboard flank of Harukaze's fleet. What appeared to be a strait tentacle of ships: Nemesis, Warlocks and some Caesars, all packed with mean looking broadside batteries. The tentacle began to drift apart from the rest of the Human fleet. Not like the ships were out of control; they were navigating away to starboard. The Vree were moving to intercept.

"Ma'am, the Vree are moving to intercept." – Hall said

"Send the fake retreat order to that flank. All frequencies." – Harukaze ordered. The message was a fake; the squadron that was 'running away' knew that. But the Vree caught the message too and bought it, seeing no need to waste ships in pursue when they were already outnumbered. So they returned to formation.

"20 minutes for them to be in our firing range." – Hall reported. Anti-matter was powerful but not very effective in long-range. One of the of the reasons why Vree built fast and agile ships was so they could get close to the enemy, so that their weapons could deal major damage. Fortunately for the Humans, they had batteries with weaker fire power but with longer range.

Captain Roland, commanding the 'fleeing' squadron was appealing to his calm demeanor to keep it cool. His job was probably the most risky of the whole fleet right now. He had to keep this charade for the Vree until the ships in his command were in position for the tactic.

"Power up jump-engines to send the phony energy spike." - now the 'retreating' flank was emitting a phony jump energy spike to keep tricking the Vree they were really leaving the battle. This was a trick that could be done by charging the jump-engines to almost maximum and try to jump. With no jump vortex been formed, the fleeing squadron. Now had to make a risky move real quickly.

"Hard to port! Full burn!" – the line of ships began to make a U-turn as fast as possible, standing broadside with the Vree fleet at long-range.

"All starboard batteries! Time on target! Fire!" – Roland cried out.

"All forward batteries! Time on target! Fire!" – Harukaze ordered from her ship. The main invasion fleet unleashed its front firepower with the Roland's squadron outflanking the Vree from port.

During World War I, war leader noticed that most of the casualties in a bombardment are delivered within the first few seconds. During those first few seconds, troops may be unprotected or not ready to respond. After those seconds, enemy troops begin firing back and/or sought cover, which dramatically diminished the casualties. So, in World War II allied artillery units were often trained to fire their guns in a precise order, all at the same time. That way, all shells would hit the enemy at the same time, dealing the maximum possible damage. This became now as '_time on target_'. The Vree had just learnt a lesson in Human history the painful way.

Those first few second of the barrage damaged many of the saucers, especially the ones in the flank. But now that advantage was over and the Vree were breaking formation to engage the main fleet and the broadside flank and launching fighters.

"Launch all fighters! Break and attack! I repeat, break and attack." – Harukaze commanded. And so it began, ships firing at each other, fighters shooting each other and sometimes vice-versa. One major difference was that many Human ships paired up to deal with twice as many of Vree saucers. Like two dreadnoughts joined forces to wipe out four saucers facing them.

"Starboard batteries! Fire!" – the triple heavy laser cannon spread through the right side of the _Heracles_ fired, taking out a saucer firing at a Warlock. _Heracles_, as a Titan cruiser, was virtually untouchable to any fighter. With dozens of small plasma cannons and turrets, no small craft could come close without been locked on by one of these. And as a cherry on top of the cake, the Titans double as carriers, bringing 40 to 50 fighters on their bellies.

"Captain Hall, tell the Scout Task Force to get moving!" - the admiral commanded.

The few scout ships that hadn't gone with Major Pain were now behind the Invasion fleet. Their numbers were nothing more than a task group. They circled the battle and get themselves at starboard of the Vree fleet. Instead of fighting, the small ships jumped into hyperspace and there help position, sending a constant signal to every direction.

As the battle kept raging on normal space, the scout task group still had an important job which could help the fleet winning the battle faster. Hours passed and they kept sending the signal until ships appeared. The gunners tensed up. There was the chance their guests were the Vree. All anxiety was evaporated when they recognized Major Pain's Raid Task Force.

"_This is Captain Mubarak of the Monsoon-class scout _Eagle_ of the invasion scout task group."_

"This is Major Pain of the _Vladimir_. Thanks for the signal. There's a task force of Vree saucers one hour behind us." – Major Pain said.

"_I surrender the control of my task group to you, Major."_ – Mubarak replied.

"I accept it, Captain. Let's get to work before our soon-to-arrive guests show up. Populum, exercitum, propositum!"

Mubarak reattributed the salute and the two groups joined in one. It was time for the fleet to be put together again.

"All ships, prepare to jump. Jump!" – and so Major Pain's forces joined the battle, making things even more desperate for the Vree. Although battle formations had been lost, there were still many Vree in the rearguard of the fleet. Major Pain jumped in at starboard of the Vree and fired every weapon he had. The Vree were now surrounded by all flanks: front by Harukaze, port by Roland, starboard by Pain and in the rear was Vreetan.

"Major Pain, glad you could join us." – Harukaze said in a triumphant smile. – "Hope you don't mind cleaning up this mess while we deal with the defense grid."

"_Consider it done, Ma'am. _Vladimir_ out!"_ – although Pain's ships were destroyers and scouts, the Vree fleet was practically gutted.

"Disengage and brings us in closer to the station." – Harukaze commanded. The _Heracles_, along with other two Titans and Quasars, approached Vreetan. The arrival of Pain's task force allowed them to conduct ships to remove the biggest targets. Vreetan has four major orbital bases, two of which are military, one monitor and one trade. The two military were the biggest threat.

"_I'll be damned. It's even bigger than the trading post or the X'ilix's station."_ – David Sinclair muttered in awe. His group had joined the one of the dreadnought and two cruisers dealing with one station. The _Heracles_ and the other dreadnought were taking care of the other.

The military station was a true titan compared with its previously faced cousins. This was also different in the design: it was shaped like a saucer, but that saucer was supported by a tall heavy structure on the bottom. It was like a frisbee standing over a tall trophy.

Hatches opened all over and anti-matter and anti-proton missiles and laser were spat. To make it worse, the local defense grid had joined the fight, launching its own torpedoes.

"Alright, Ghosts. Break formation. Take out the weapons systems of the satellite. Don't let those missiles hit you; that'll ruin your weekend." – he gave a phantom of a chuckle. – "Ghost 4, you'll be my wingman."

"_Roger that, Commander._"

"Fire guided missiles." – Harukaze commanded. The missiles wouldn't do much damage, but could intercept the strikes the station was firing. Fire main guns!"

The _Heracles_ fired its matter and heavy pulse cannons to the station, severely damaging its hull and many of its weapon systems.

"Now bring us in closer! Tell the _Ragnarok_ to prepare its load." – Harukaze commanded. _Ragnarok_, captained by Oskar Nebogatov, was the Quasar-class dreadnought accompanying the _Heracles_. She was refit with a thermo-nuclear atmospheric torpedo, ideal for planetary bombardment or to blow up an immobile unit in space.

"Admiral, we've got a problem! _Ragnarok_ just took heavy damage in its torpedo tube. They can't fire the nuke." – Hall reported in.

"What?"

"They barely intercepted a missile headed to them. The explosion dented the stern of the ship. They can't fire the torpedo without making it blow up on their face." – the Commander related.

"Damn it!" – Harukaze cursed silently. In any other situation, this wouldn't be a major problem. But soon the Vree from X'ilix would arrive and if at least one battle station wasn't destroyed, they might be more persuaded to fight.

"All right. We have to do this the all fashioned way. Tell…"

"_Ragnarok_ changing position!" – Hall said. – "They moving onto the base."

"Show me!"

The main screen lighted up with the footage of the _Ragnarok_ approaching the station on full burn. On its way, the dreadnought launched life-pods.

"Oh hell." – Harukaze whispered.

"Ok, come about for another run." – Sinclair said, watching as another satellite blew up.

"_Commander, the _Ragnarok_._" – his wingman said. Sinclair glanced at the dreadnought, scorched and bleeding debris. Even its armor wasn't being great defense against constant attacks of the battle station. The _Ragnarok_ wasn't fighting back, directing all of its power to the engines.

"Oh my God." – Sinclair sighed as the _Ragnarok_ rammed the battle station. The hit triggered the nuke within and detonated, wiping out both the station and the ship in a brilliant white light. Some fighters of both sides were caught in that. Even a couple of satellites were thrown away in flames.

"Send some fighters to collect the life-pods." – Harukaze pointed to the pods the _Ragnarok_ launched before its sacrifice. – "Captain Nebogatov wanted some of his crew to live. Let's not disappoint his dying wish."

"Yes, Ma'am!"

"Now, take us to the next battle station. I'm sure with this twist of events the Vree will have the devil to pay." – Harukaze said. Ragnarok was a veteran ship, which dealt with several Centauri incursions and even the Ch'lon skirmishes and the Koulani invasion. She had been one of the oldest and proudest dreadnoughts in the navy. What would become known has 'Ragnarok's Last Roar' gave the fleet a furious drive to wipe out every enemy in their path. The _Heracles _joins the two cruisers and dreadnought fighting the second battle station, which is overwhelmed by the joined barrage of matter cannons, plasma and lasers.

The battle for some time turned into a one-sided slaughter. The Vree fleet was gutted, their numbers vastly reduced. Their two battle stations destroyed and the defense grid now at 50% capacity and dropping.

Right then, the Vree task force from X'ilix arrived, but made little difference. What survived of the fleet retreated and the newly arrived task force had to run back jump-gate on X'ilix.

"Deploy Tormentors and Warlocksto pursue them until the edge of the system." – Harukaze indicated the Vree task force fleeing in normal space. – "If possible, shot down the engines of some of the targets. The folks of the NTD will drool over anti-matter weaponry."

"Understood, Admiral." – Hall relayed the orders. – "Those cowards. They would rather run away than to keep fighting for their homeworld!"

"They're a logical species, Captain." – Harukaze spoke to her second-in-command. – "They see no purpose in defending a world that would undoubtedly fall. Their logical thinking guides them to protect the colonies. Though that's all in vain, anyways. Even if the colonies resist, they all need some sort of supply shipment from Vreetan. Eventually, they will die out. Now, status report?"

"Defense grid completely disabled. No Vree warships detected in the proximities. We destroyed about 90% of their fleet and lost 30% of ours." – Hall reported.

"Deploys the scouts to check that. Both in normal and hyperspace. Also, make sure our position is well guarded. I don't want to be surprised by a Vree assault." – Harukaze commanded. – "Now, moves us and a few dreadnoughts into bombardment range. Also, joins three atmospheric capable Nemesis to fire from the atmosphere with heavy Wingblades."

The Nemesis-class destroyers were the first and only capital ships with an atmosphere capable variant. While not all Nemesis were built like that because of the time-consuming construction, the Invasion fleet had a few of those.

There was only one Vree city in Vreetan, Viros Oma. A major urban complex where 2.3 billion Vree lived. That extensive city had its own aerial defenses. Mostly ballistic weaponry. The Nemesis ships on the atmosphere were meant to intercept these counter-attacks and even destroy the bases firing them. Along the way, they would contribute to the bombardment.

"Every unit is in position. The Nemesis are already hunting down missiles fired from the ground." – Hall reported.

"Tell everyone to open fire. Strike military targets only." – Harukaze said sternly. She was aware many in the fleet would frown before that last order.

And so it ended the conflict that would be remembered by History as the 'Fall of Vreetan'.

**9th June 2227 (three days later)**

**Vreetan. Homeworld (Conquered). Vree Conglomerate (Human Empire Protectorate).**

"We're ready to descend, Ma'am." – the captain of the _Hannibal_, Hector, said. Admiral Harukaze intended to descend to the planet that now belonged to the Empire. However, many suspected the Vree might pull something. Personally, the admiral would have preferred to fly a shuttle or even a Wingblade, but even her superiors insisted in the precaution. So she would be taken down by the _Hannibal_, a Nemesis destroyer proper for atmospheric flight.

"Very well, captain."

The battle was won after about 10 hours of bombardment. When every obstacle was out of the way, the fleet initiated a minor orbital bombardment based on laser weapons and atmospheric missiles. Matter cannons are impressive as bow or stern weapons in space, effective because nothing can withstand the hit of mass flying at light-constant speeds. Because it only works in the void of space, it's virtually useless for orbital strikes on objects which hold atmosphere.

In the previous day, the fleet had to deploy a good number of its scouts to go secure search the Vree colonies. Those worlds still had their smaller fleets guarding them and while the Vree had surrendered, it was a risk the Empire didn't want to take. Photikar had surrendered. Alzeral, the oldest of Vree colonies, had apparently been majorly evacuated. 12 of the 22.5 million that lived in Alzeral had been evacuated to God-knows-where. Those who stayed surrendered. Denizala was once a Vree colony but in 2190 had been infected by a deadly disease brought in by an unknown probe. Since then, the world has been dead and quarantined.

As the _Hannibal _initiated its dive towards Viros Oma. After the Vree gave their unconditional surrender, the Transport Task Force, which remained hidden in hyperspace during the battle, detachedseveral Cyclops-class transports. Each ship carried 10 thousand ground-pounders, including Colonel Richard Franklin to put their new conquest in order.

Vreetan was green world, with three extensive cool ocean-lakes and other smaller scattered bodies of water. This made Vreetan having less water on the surface than Earth. Mountain chains marked the surface in some areas, though the planet had, in general rule, a green, flat geology. The climate was temperate to mild, and the whole planet was a little tectonic instable. But what most marked their new world was a deep grey crater near the North Pole. It was rumored that was the spot of an old facility that exploded when the Vree cracked the mysterious of anti-matter.

The Vree society is organized in guilds, similarly to the Brakiri in some points. Each guild is monitored and commanded by the Guild Leafers. However, unlike the Brakiri Syndicrats who are mainly interested in profit, the guilds are focused towards the welfare of the whole race.

Viros Oma was still releasing smoke into the atmosphere from several spots, despite every fire had been put out by now. The only damaged infrastructures were the military and defensive ones. Houses, schools, markets and other civilian structures had been left untouched. Yamada Harukaze didn't like the aliens; however, she didn't hate them either. What differenced a soldier from a war criminal was who they targeted. True soldiers kill soldiers; they don't kill the powerless or the defenseless.

When Colonel Franklin's forces landed, they ceased control of the streets, communication centers and governmental buildings. The chiefs of the guilds are all captive in the Conglomerate's government center under the tight guard of Colonel Franklin. She knew Franklin shared the same principals she did and he always stood for said principals.

"_A man who doesn't stand for his principals is not a man."_ – that was his motto in fact.

Soon enough, the _Hannibal_ landed on a landing bay in the center of the city. Now the Admiral could see the how her expectations of Viros Oma were wrong. For a passionless race with grey, undecorated starships and no apparent sense of decoration, their native architecture was completely contrasted. Sweeping architecture painted in hundreds of different colors, one would think this planet was the homeworld of the most dramatic and cheerful of races.

"Admiral Haruzake. Welcome." – Colonel Franklin saluted and she saluted back once she exited the _Hannibal_. He and his second, Sargent Alfredo Garibaldi.

"Colonel, I take your men haven't taken any liberties towards the civilians." – Harukaze said that with a hidden note of joyless severity.

"No, Ma'am. My men are disciplined. They know they'll be the devil to pay if such thing happened." – Franklin was thorough when it came to penalize his soldiers for grave mistakes, especially when it was about mistreating prisoners. He did this not because he held any love for aliens, but rather because he didn't want his people to be known as scumbags.

Together, they rode on an armored vehicle to the Vree government building. In the way, Harukaze noticed armed troops on the streets, marching and paying an open-eye to any troublemakers. For now, the civilian Vree had been forced to stay in their houses.

Later, the Admiral and Colonel were in a room with a representative of the Vree, called Be-Yi. He was like any other free. Big, black, retina-less eyes in a bald, big head. The body was thin and disproportionate compared to the head body. Short height, barely reaching Franklin's shoulder.

"We do not understand the purpose of this invasion." – Be-Yi spoke through the translator.

"The Human Empire has evidence that in several occasions in our 20th century, many of your people abducted citizens of Earth and performed experiments on them." – Harukaze said monotonously. While that was true, she knew the Empire was using that as a tenuous excuse to invade the Vree.

"That is the truth." – Be-Yi answered simply.

"We considered that as a provocation for war, but we never knew who did it…until recently." – Harukaze paused – "While a negotiator hasn't been sent by our government yet, I'm obliged to tell you the conditions of the surrender. The Vree Conglomerate is now a protectorate of the Human Empire. Your world and colonies now belong to our Empire. They will have supply bases for Eartharmy and a part of your annual planetary output will be paid to our government. Also, none of your guilds will be authorized to trade with races our empire is at war. And we will have control over the size and composition of the Guilds' star fleets. In return, you can maintain your current government and will have our military protection. An attack directed to you will be an attack directed to us, as well. Apart from the conditions I previously mentioned, we won't interfere in your internal affairs."

"Understood. We assume you will have some of your people in here to monitor our conduct." – Be-Yi said.

"Officially, that's for the negotiators to decide." – Harukaze just regretted there would be no negotiators to come.

Twenty hours later, the troops had all been evacuated to every one's surprised. Most of them assumed they were just leaving their new conquered world. The reason for the retreat had not been officially explained to anyone, but the Vree. The Colonel only said something about an 'exercise'.

Harukaze and Franklin were now in the admiral's quarters, aboard the _Heracles_ watching a screen displaying a video fee of the outside.

"Richard." – Harukaze called the Colonel by his first name, something she didn't do with many people. She was single and as far as anyone was concerned, she had no family. – "Don't you have a son, back on Mars? Stephen?"

"Yes, he's six. And two daughters." – the Colonel said in a stern tone, though he had a hint of proud in his voice.

"What would you do if Stephen or any of your children called you a monster? A murderer?"

Harukaze kept an unreadable look at his fellow officer. Franklin was caught unprepared for that.

"I…I don't know, Admiral."

"Many people say war begins good and bad things. One thing I know for sure is that war brings out what's best on some people and what's worst on other people. Tell me Colonel, would you fire upon the meek?"

"No, Admiral but…" – he finally understood what she meant. – "The orders…I don't like them, but while the Vree live, they will always try to free themselves from us. Keeping them would only work for a while; they're too advanced. And slavery is for savages like the Centauri. This is the only way to make sure they won't try to retaliate. We have a war too fight, we can't take any chances."

Harukaze gave no reply. As off two days, they had received the news that the Dilgar Imperium had successfully taken Balos and Alaca. That was the signal they needed.

"Captain Hall, how is the retreat?" – she talked through her link.

"_The last Cyclops transport has just left, Ma'am. May I call the task force?"_ – Hall said, meaning all the troops had been evacuated from the planet on an 'exercise'.

"Yes. End this." – she cut the link and stared at the screen. A jump-point formed and a flat ship came from it. It was a Hiroshima-class Bomber, armed with six thermo-nuclear torpedoes and capable of couple a mass driver. These ships were built recently though no mass drivers have been equipped into them. The government had long ago decided that:

'_The only planet we will mass-drive into extinction is Centauri Prime.'_

The two soldiers watched has the bombardment vessel fired its deadly cargo. Six torpedoes plummeted into Viros Oma, wiping out the urban complex and its 2.3 billion population for good. Vree didn't live in rural areas. All of them inhabited that one city so the Empire could afford mass contamination of that area. The supply base on Vreetan would be built elsewhere. Also, many of Vree technology and data crystals had been salvaged when the troops were evacuated.

The Dilgar/Human invasion of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds had begun. This was what they needed to add the final touch. Now that the war on two fronts would begin, the rest of the League would have no time to launch a war of retribution against the Empire for the genocide of the Vree.

If Vreetan was bombed with weapons of mass destruction during the battle, the Abbai might have used that to unite the rest of the League worlds against the empire. But now with the Dilgar nearly at their doorstep, they would have to protect themselves first.

"God forgives us all." – Harukaze said, turning off the screen.

**11th June 2227**

**Korel IV. Colonized. Renegade Union.**

An old galactic saying was 'No species is uniform'. And that has become the motto of the independent colony world of Korel IV. Every race breeds renegades. There are generous Brakiri, merciful Dilgar, forgiving Humans, humble Centauri, loud Drakh, jovial Hyach, aggressive Abbai, pacifist Drazi, perverted Orieni and even hedonistic Minbari. The Koulani, known to be the worst parents in the galaxy, got into space and a small minority of them felt interested in the parenting techniques of other races rather than to abandon the young to their fate once they hatched.

This caused some much controversy in their homeworld and by the year 2150, these xenophilic Koulani were banished from Koula and wandered through space until they found Korel IV. The arrival of such outcast group of colonists marked the world as the ultimate refuge for those who feel like outsiders among their own people.

And now, countless thousands of Humans had arrived practically on a difference of 5 days. The representatives of those 5 diverse Human fleets were now meeting in the outskirts of Okalain, one of the few cities in the planet. All of them claim their own deities called them to Korel IV and then to so other planet in the proximities.

A Muslin Imam of the Islamic faith called Abdul Rashid. According to him, his people had just left the Empire when a turtle-like ship, a race called Ru'haru, told them to go to Korel IV. When the Moslem fleet interrogated them, they saw a flashing light and Allah appeared and showed them an image of Korel IV which next transformed into Kazomi III.

Mr. Chong, a Buddhist Monk, was on his way to Abbai space when a race that identified themselves as the J/Lai told them if they wanted to save humanity from the coming shadows, they must gather at Korel IV. Their next destination would be Nacambad III.

Jewish Rabbi Yossel Koslov and his pupil, Leonard Mayers, were on the Epsilon Eridani system and their telepaths entered some kind of trance and started saying 'God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is calling us to meet the others at Korel IV' and then leave to Daltron VII.

But the most amazing story was the one of the True Gospel Mission Baptist Church fleet. William Dexter, a chaplain, narrated how his people had fled to K064 system:

"We were fleeing to K064 system from Arisia. Once we jump in the system, we ran some thorough scans and found some sort of complex infrastructure. When we approached to investigate we were attacked by some unknown ship. This ship." – the chaplain showed everyone a picture of a brown ship of alien design. It had what appeared to be antennas like a snail and two long slender structures like arms.

"I recognize that!" – Rashid said. Everyone looked at the Moslem. – "We have data on this ship from the Centauri invasion. That's a Drakh ship."

"Drakh?" - Yossel asked.

"Yes. They are legend. They took some role in the Orieni-Centauri. They also fought on the legendary War of Darkness, 1000 years ago." – Rashid revealed.

"On which side?" – Sister Helena questioned. She and Brother Theo and Father Cassidy were representing their fleet.

"I do not know. The record only state they fought in that war."

"Whoever they are, they attacked us without provocation. But right when we were trying to talk, a cruiser of some kind jumped from hyperspace and destroyed the Drakh ship. I have only seen a cruiser like that once before. It was a Vorlon war cruiser." – before the stunned look of the others, he carried on. – "Next, the cruiser opened a channel to us and said '_Go to where the renegades converge_'. When we tried to communicate, an angel came out of the cruiser and alienated the stars, forming the words 'Korel IV' and 'Soom V'. "

"That's what they told us, too." – Father Cassidy recalled. – "So it is safe to admit we have been casted here by some divine entity?"

He preferred to not say the word 'God' since not all presents believed in the same God and he didn't want to risk offending them.

"So it would appear. But why?" – young Leonard asked.

Right then, a giggling sound attracted the attention of the Humans. A small Centauri girl was playing with a ball along with several other multi-specie alien children, one of which was a Human.

"It's a lovely planet this. There is no hate focused on aliens we live with in the Empire. This is a world our people should be able to appreciate, if only they weren't blind by hate." – Sister Helena whispered in a sigh. Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Gathered friends, it seems obvious to me why we're here." – Rashid said. – "When our people committed this heinous sin, we all fled instead of facing the problem. This is what we must been guided to do. We must mend the spirit of our race if we ever want them to live in harmony with the Universe like this."

"I agree. If there's a reason we're here, this must be it." – Yossel concurred. And so in that day, an alliance that would one day give birth to an historical army was born.

Before they all departed, Mr. Chong got a transmission from his fleet. It was in Chinese so the others didn't understand the message. When he was over, his eyes looked heavier and darker.

"Whatever we're going to do, we better do it quickly. My people just finished decrypting a few messages we intercepted when we passed Vree space. Vreetan has fallen."

Each religious faith set a base on the planet chosen for them. Korel IV became their supply world, symbol of unity and only contact with the outside galaxy. New hyperspace routes were mapped between the six planets. The first steps were taken to one day found the Army of Light.

**14th June 2227**

**Balos. Homeworld (Conquered). Balosian Republic (Dilgar Imperium Protectorate).**

"Experiment N-17 of Drafa Plague Recognition. Dissection of dying Markab body concluded. Report: Drafa virus turns out to be easier to track in a subject that is still alive." – the military Xenobiologist Doctor and Commander Jha'dur recorded in her personnel journal. Her lab was one of the most refined facilities built on the newly conquered world for Balos, with most of her equipment brought from the Military HQ, back on Ogkarin. Most of the cities of that world and Alaca were destroyed. Though the Dilgar left some infrastructure intact for their own purposes. Balos and Alaca would now become supply worlds for the now pausing war.

Shipyards, factories, military fortresses and orbital bases were projected in many locations on both planets. Structures like water reservoir, mines and others meant for the extraction of resources wouldn't need construction in large scale, for many of the original ones had been spared by the Dilgar bombardment. Even though the worlds are no pacified, not everything is consolidated yet. The Balosians, the toughest of both conquered species, were still fighting on the ground, despite their navy was scattered and occasionally taking small bites from the Dilgar fleet stationed there.

When the Human Empire got its collective clutches on the Markab homeworld and colonies there were still a few hundred of the aliens alive. They had been put in cryogenic stasis and eventually some delivered to her, as part of the Earth-Omelos agreement. Even after so many failures, she still persisted in cracking the Drafa case, which was now her 'time-killing hobby'. In the last days, Jha'dur had been patients. Some of them wake up from the stasis already dead. It turned out the Drafa virus still worked in instant freeze.

The first Markab corpses she cut open where to analyze and study the Drafa virus. Whatever this disease was, it wasn't a natural disease, been 100% terminal, 100% contagious. Unfortunately, every experiment had been the same. The virus was hard to find and when it was contained, it simply disintegrated, like it didn't want to remain captured. This happened on every body, whether they were already dead or dying.

But then she decided to take a different approach. Every Markab that was shipped to her lab were ran a quick biological scan, inside the stasis pods. One of them had turned out to still be alive! Jha'dur had kept the living test subject as a last resort in case everything else failed.

The little girl was already dying when she was taken out of stasis. Her name was Nilla, she had said. She already knew her parents were both dead, she had said. She understood she was probably one of the last members of her race, she had said.

"Aren't you sad for that?" – Jha'dur asked naturally, while she took a blood sample from her before beginning the operation.

"My father said we would all join the Maker soon. The disease is just the door opening." – her words and gaze seemed to belong to a much elder being.

Even after Jha'dur told her about the end of her people, she didn't cry. She knew she would join her people and her family soon, she had said.

"How can you know?" – Jha'dur questioned, intrigued. She had the girl lying in the table, looking at the ceiling like a prayer gazing at the sky.

"Because I believe." – that was her only answer. Jha'dur looked into her eyes before beginning the vivisection. Nilla died within 5 minutes of it, but she never cried out, nor moved her gaze from the ceiling.

Jha'dur wiped the memory from her mind. She still had the report to fill. Thanks to that girl, she had discovered a few clues:

"Drafa virus successfully contained and examined. Discovered some semi-organic structure in the virus of unknown purpose. One thing is for certain: the Drafa Virus was purposefully engineered to kill the Markab race." – Jha'dur concluded. She just loved when her theories turned out to be correct, which tended to happen most of the time. – "But by whom? Were the Markab the real target or simply a guinea pig of some advanced race that created the disease? Whatever was the reason, it was definitely someone who didn't like them. Despite the fact the Markab were famous for not having enemies. This requires a research into their history. Especially, the only war they ever took part in: the War of Darkness. End report."

Jha'dur turned off the recorder and went back into her own thoughts, exiting the isolab and taking off the suit. During the mythical War of Darkness, a thousand years ago, the Markab fought alongside the Minbari. Many enemy races were defeated and left in a pre-industrial state. But some definitely survived with their starships and planets untouched.

"The first time Drafa appeared was only 100 years after the War of Darkness. Perhaps one of the old enemies tried to settle the score and failed. And now they settled it once and for all. Looks like I have a new challenge." – Jha'dur whispered. It was only a theory, though that made her smile. She proved Drafa was a weapon, a bio-engineered virus used to wipe out the Markab. It was most certainly an old enemy of the Markab from the War of Darkness. And now that enemy stroke again and finished the job. A job that made the work for the Humans easier.

"I would guess…the Humans have some pretty powerful friends." – Jha'dur smirked.

**And here is the answer ****lord Martiya****, hope you liked it, though the real invasion will only start in the next chapter. Most of the religious guys were from the episode 'And the rock cried out, no hiding place'. Yossel Koslov is from 'TKO' and, in case someone didn't noticed, Andrei is Ivanova's father, though she hasn't born yet.**

**Also, a new GALAXY MAP has been uploaded onto Deviantart. With every chapter, I'll make a new map indicating the change in borders.**


	5. Conquerors, saviors, victims and watches

**THE HUMAN EMPIRE**

**Although Earth is slightly better than the Narn homeworld, the Centauri couldn't strip mine Earth of its resources because we were much more aggressive than the Narns, hence our resistance kept sabotaging every attempt they tried to build a mine or a refinery.**

**Tessa Holloran is the Number One of the Mars Resistance in the series, in case anyone doesn't remember. And Kalikie has nothing to do with Kalika. They are different characters, Ok?**

**Chapter 5: Conquerors, saviors, victims and watchers**

**16th June 2227**

**Sucaro, Centauri Prime.**

In the major Centauri city, temples, buildings and palaces raised high above the ground, though none of them could be compared to the old skyscrapers of Earth, which most no longer exist as of today. In one of these palaces, belonging to House Mollari, a tower was the quarters of a young man, Londo.

Londo was pouring another drink, his mind drifting to the heinous news he had received 3 months ago. 3 months since his father relayed what cruel fate uncle Sorul had fallen to.

**(A.N.: In the series, 6 months on Centauri Prime is equal to 9 months on Earth. It has passed 5 Earth months since Londo found out what the Coles did to his uncle. So, that is 3,3 Centauri months)**

Londo had left the room bursting with anger like a Nefua VI volcano. Though, unlike a lava-spitting mountain of a very volcanically active world, he tried to keep that anger bottled up. Urza had accompanied him, clearly seeing his friend needed him.

"I'm all in favor of retaliation against the Humans, Londo. It is House Jaddo's duty to support House Mollari!" – he had said, but there was nothing he or his House could do. What the Emperor said was law.

That was until that afternoon, as Londo and Urza left the house disappointed, his other uncle, Batar, tells them he intends to launch a secret attack to retaliate that outrages offense.

"The Emperor has forbidden any aggression towards the Humans. None of our ships are allowed to enter their territory." – Batar had said. – "However, if they fire the first shot, it will be self-defense and the Emperor will have no choice but to support us."

"How can we provoke them into firing first if we cannot cross their borders?" – Urza questioned.

With that, Batar took them to a more hidden room, where he activated a jammer, to make sure they weren't spied on.

"There's a system, Sector 49, right in the Humans' doorstep. They have no claim upon it, but still they sometimes watch it superficially with warships usually from the Vega system. In the past, several Houses sent their forces onto uninhabited system for training exercises. We could do the same in Sector 49. This would certainly attract the Humans and then we would have our revenge. We just have to make sure our forces are well-armed and numerous."

"That plan counts on several big chances. It will only work if the Humans do appear and only if they fire the first shot." – Urza replied.

"Young Urza," – Batar turned his gaze to him. – "We're talking about Humans. They are savage; even worse than Drazi. Their hate is so great that they will attack without provocation, like they always do."

The plan is to go through Epsilon Eridani system and then through Sector 49. From the day he heard of Sorul's gruesome death, Batar had been gathering some of the House' forces slowly, and subtly.

"My House should be included in this. We have an obligation to support our oldest allies." – Urza claimed.

Batar had already spoken with some of the highest families of House Jaddo, including Urza's father. In the last 3 months, military forces of Mollari and Jaddo were silently been put together for this endeavor. Londo had insisted in going with the small fleet and despite Batar initial reluctance, he agreed. Urza was also going to accompany him, claiming that 'if Londo couldn't beat him with the coutari, than he certainly would need him to protect his back in a battle'.

"To the Republic…and to revenge." – Londo poured himself a final drink. To his big surprise, there was something dark lurking in Sector 49 that only very few Humans were aware of.

**24th June 2227**

**Rome, capital of Earth.**

"_And the Markab homeworld is still having half of its shipyards in building process._" – the Minister of Industry spoke from the screen.

"I don't care, Minister. You have the money and the time necessary for the operations. If you don't have the abilities to do your job, I'll look for someone more suited for your position." – Empress Elizabeth Levy snapped through the channel. She hated dealing with incompetence, so she never held back her annoyance when doing so. Which was good; the idea of an upset sovereign usually incentivized people like this Minister to actually work.

Unlike the Markab colonies of Troth and Tiree, the Markab homeworld is not meant to become a supply world but rather a fortress. The first good portion of its resources had been used to help build up the supply worlds of Tiree and Troth. The colonies are merely supply bases with no means to defend themselves.

That where Markab pops in the picture. The planet was in the process of been changed into a fortress to protect the two supply colonies and itself. Both colonies weren't very large and since Markab has most of the infrastructure and its orbital bases were still operational when the world was seized, it has become the guardian. Shipyards and factories used to refuel its garrison fleet, which in turn protected the planet and the colonies. In addition to that, many bases and settlements, spread in different places of the planet for different purposes: military training, mining of resources, medical research and even an archaeological research facility. In case the Human Empire is beaten back, Markab will be their last stand before the pre-war territory.

"You must see, Majesty, we're still having trouble sending the last Markab ships to Vreetan and the population of Markab keeps growing." – the minister said.

While not much more advanced that Human tech, Markab warships had some pretty neat guns. Warships of the dead race were been sent to Vreetan were they would be dismantled and studied. This was done in Vreetan for two reasons: first, Vreetan was the world used for reverse engineering salvaged technologies. Second, Markab's aggressive colonization was partly fueled by people who volunteered to build the factories, work on the mines and plowthe fields. People who just needed a job. So it was best to make sure no valuable weapons ended up on the hands of the colonists.

"Since the population is still growing, I advise you to start hiring them to work in the construction. That's why those people accepted living there, anyways." – Levy frowned even more, indicating her growing annoyance.

A few hours later, the Empress was walking to the large veranda of the Imperial Palace, where she could glimpse a great part of the city. The Imperial Palace was all that remained of the old city of Vatican. The small city-state is nowadays the seat of the government, residence of the Empress and the gathering place of the Supreme Council. Instead of clergy or Swiss Guard, well-armed soldiers and securities were spread throughout the former city-state. Ground-based anti-air and anti-ground weapons mounted everywhere. For all intents and purposes, Vatican no longer existed. Its function was now the leadership residence of the Human Empire and the heart of Rome.

Levy stood at the balcony of the once Saint Peter's Basilica. Many citizens were gathered at the Saint Peter's Square, waiting for the sovereign to speak and the whole event would be broadcast to every planet of the Empire. Levy wasn't known for her kindness. She was a strict, opportunist and cold ruler. Nevertheless, that didn't make her a cruel dictator. She respected her subordinates and rewarded those who did their duty and were loyal to her and to the Empire. Likewise, she scolded and punished those who were lazy or incompetent or paid more attention to their own agendas than to their obligations. Levy was 76 years old, having been born during the last years of the Centauri occupation, but still lived through the harshness. Like every children of that time, at the age of ten, she knew how to maintain and use a riffle and had killed her first Centauri. Single and with no family, the old woman still clang to life for her people. She was a woman who had lost compassion a long time ago, and that was the type of ruler the Empire needed for this war.

"Children of Earth and the every corner of the Empire, another year has passed but we preserve our hopes and dreams of salting the world of our oppressors."

Her words didn't make anyone flinch. When the Centauri left Earth, the leaders of the old Resistance had vowed to inflict every bit of destruction to Centauri Prime that had been inflicted to Earth. Those leaders were now all dead, but their children and their grand-children made an oath to continue the job.

As she spoke, Levy spotted some children in the crowd. The children of the Empire, especially on Earth, pass through an obligatory but not especially severe training since young age, though not as strict as during the occupation. It's called 'Junior Force' by the people and after a while the name stuck.

They are taught it's everyone's duty to protect the Empire against any threat in the first years. Basic combat training from the age of 10 to 15. Trained on how to pilot a shuttle or a fighter when they're 13. First on simulations and on real life when they're 16. When reach 18, it finals on basic firearms. A childhood partly based on nationalism like all of that drives many to join Eartharmy, giving the Empire seemingly unlimited recruits.

"Ever since we began sailing the sea of stars, we've encountered many other races. And many enemies. After the Centauri, came the Koulani and the Ch'lonas. For three times they tried to set foot on our worlds and for three times we taught them that Humans do not bow down! Like our fathers and mothers taught the Centauri long ago."

The Ch'Lonas and Koulami lived on the rimward border of the Empire. For three time each of them launched their individual assaults, back when the Empire was still expanding into its first colonies. Eartharmy sent them bleeding to their homeworlds with a good combination of coordination, fury and big guns. But in later years, Humans started doing the same to the invaders. And that time, under the previous regime, coordination was sadly misguided, leading to a few embarrassing defeats. These defeats also reflected in the incursions to Markab space that came later.

"But, as we learn more, we discover there are also friends out there who have suffered at the ends of off worlders like we have. It is from this day forth the Human Empire declares the Dilgar Imperium as a friend and an ally."

**27th June 2227**

**Ogkarin, capital of Omelos.**

"_And as such, the Humans join us in this alliance of mutual military support, trade and friendship. Together we will strike at our enemies and make them cower at our feet."_ – Van'art, Emperor of the Dilgar Imperium announced to his people what Levy had announced to hers. On a viewing room of the Military HQ, Commander Jha'dur and Captain Len'char watched the whole speech.

"Can you believe that buffoon?" – Len'char sneered. – "His mouth may be the one talking, but I'm sure the words came out of the Supreme Warmaster's mouth."

Jha'dur didn't react, though she understood that was true enough. The Emperor and the government were simple puppets of the Warmasters. The leaders of the military were the ones who pulled all the strings while Van'art was but a figurehead. The people were well aware of this, but they simply ignored the fact.

"You know, I've been watching the Human news channel. Turns out their Empress has just made an identic speech. Except she omitted the whole 'strike at our enemies and make them cower at our feet' part." – Jha'dur said, frowning. – "I doubt the Supreme Warmaster told the Van'art to mention that specific part. Though this isn't exactly a surprise, is it?"

Jha'dur meant, in an implicit way, that the puppet sovereign was, as of recently, slipping in one or two details of what Gar'shan indicates him to do. Until now the Supreme Warmaster didn't bother to lecture Van'art about it, but this time the Dilgar Emperor had gone too far. He may have cost the future war with the League.

Len'char just scoffed:

"Forget Van'art. The point is that only proves the Human empress is toothless and her people weak…"

"Or maybe she's just smart enough for not tipping off the League of our plans on a public, unencrypted channel." – Jha'dur gave him a sideways glance. Len'char, over the years, had become pompous and too arrogant for her licking. He was failing to see that Dilgar, though strong and made to thrive on war, were not invincible.

"Then why else would they need our help to subdue the League?" – Len'char looked at her for the first time. – "They are weak, Jha'dur, and when our war with the League is over, so will this _alliance_. Then we can commit our strengths to wipe them out and conquer their territory."

"Good plan, Len'char. The perfect captain just proposed the perfect way to send millions of our whole navy to a war we could probably lose." – Jha'dur gave him a hard look. – "After this war, our forces will take long to recover. And with the territory the Humans will have, it will be even more difficult. Have you seen the Humans in battle?"

She answered that herself before Len'char had the chance. Truth be told, she knew he had never seen a Human warship in action.

"I have read Human history and believe me when I say it is quite similar to our own. They are, in their way, no different from us. They didn't hesitate in nuking each other or to make their entire world to descend into war for three times. World wars, nuclear strikes, genocide…all too familiar for a Dilgar historian."

"That is irrelevant. The Humans…"

"Have a saying." – Jha'dur carried on. – "It goes like 'what doesn't kill us only makes us stronger'. Their past conflicts, especially their War of Independence with the Centauri, made them stronger and not just in terms of technology."

"Ancient history! It tells us nothing about the present."

"Arrogance and stupidity all in the same package. I hope, in the end, it only comes back at you and not at all of us." – Jha'dur said, her freezing glare silencing Len'char. The coldness in her eyes prevented him from responding even to the insults.

"I maintain what I say. And on any matter, the Imperium doesn't need allies. Only slaves and dead enemies." – with that, Len'char left the room. He was glad not to have to look into Jha'dur for longer.

Jha'dur remained for a while longer, watching the news. It would take time for the people to accept it, entirely. In the next weeks, trade started to be exchanged between the two new partners, though only between the less xenophobic of both species. To avoid any trouble, freighters took alternate routes through Sh'lassan and Narn space.

**1st July 2227**

**Sector 49 system (edge). Uninhabited. Human Empire border.**

The last of Centauri warships had just jumped out of hyperspace. The unofficial fleet was concentrated on cruisers and a few dreadnoughts and destroyers. 23 well-armed ships ready for battle.

"Impressive, wouldn't you say, dear friend?" – Urza said. Both were watching the fleet aboard a Balvarian-class carrier.

"Impressive enough. Just too bad we couldn't count on the Royal Navy." – Londo resented.

The Royal Navy was the largest military fleet of the Centauri Republic. Most of its soldiers are simple commoners who join the military. Unlike the House Fleets which serve only their respective House, the Royal Fleet answers only to the Generals, Admirals and to the Emperor.

For many times, there are disagreements between House Fleets and the Navy. During the Orieni War, the Royal Navy wanted to cede certain systems to the Orieni in a war of attrition mindset. Problem was, these systems were precious to one or other House, so the Navy and Houses refused to cooperate.

But not this time. Here and now, this was only a joint-task force of two allied Houses working together, like it was in the early expansion days of the Republic.

They deployed fighters to go scout their surroundings. And by scout it was more like 'attract the Humans into a hostile position so we may have a decent excuse to fire on those bastards'.

"They are launching fighters to survey the system. Let's go passo liati! Death or glory!"

"Death or glory!" – the two young Centauri noble men were paired up, piloting a couple of Rutarian-class strike fighters.

"_Our objective is to scan the area around Sector 49 I._" – Urza said. Been the most experienced pilot, he lead the way. Sector 49 was a simple system: only a single frozen planet, very distant from its white-dwarf star. It was theorized millions of years ago, the star morphed into a red giant and devoured the inner planets and then diminished, leaving only one distance world to orbit around it. The two fighters approached the planet, their pilots unaware they had opened Pandora's Box. Deep on the world known as Sector 49 I, a hidden Eartharmy partly underground base was settled. While most of infrastructure was concealed by the crust, there were large launching bays on the surface.

"Sir, you better take a closer look at these scans." – a tech on the C'n'C of the base said in an urgent tone. Colonel Roland was the responsible for that secret base that officially didn't exist.

"What is it?" – Roland said, approaching his crewman.

"Something has just entered our system. It's deploying smaller units to scout, sir."

"What is it?"

"Hard to say, sir. Scanners are having a hard time getting a proper lock. The storm outside is causing it." – the tech said, operating his console. – "There appear to be two fighters coming closer to the planet."

"Hopefully it will confuse their scanners too." – Roland said.

"_Londo_." – Urza called. – "_I'm picking up something on the planet. A faint signal._"

"What is it, Urza?"

"_There's a storm interfering with the scanners. We have to get closer._"

"Careful, Urza. We might get caught in the gravitational well." – Londo said, following his wingmate.

Back on the ground base, the tension was increasing.

"Colonel, the fighters are approaching."

"Have they seen us?"

"I don't think so. Their approach is making the job for the scanner easier. We have a silhouette now." – the tech displayed it. It was shaped like a rose, in shades of purple and carmine, half-away in the process of flowering.

"Oh, great. Those are Centauri strike fighters." – Roland groaned. If he could, he would attack those damn Centauri, but his command was a ground base and there was an enemy task force stationed out there.

Officially, the Human Empire has no claim over that world. Sector 49 I is breathable and dimly under-pressurized, but its freezing climate made impossible to settle in. Decades ago, the Supreme Council had the idea of putting a monitor base on the system to watch for incoming Centauri incursions. But it soon came to notice that virtually nobody travels through that system. So rather than to build a monitor station, a large but secret military base, used to work on black projects for Eartharmy was subtly installed there. The world of Sector 49 I was withheld terraforming just to not arousing suspicions or unwanted eyes.

"Go to red alert." – Roland ordered, trying to keep his cool as the warning siren and red lights fired up throughout the base. It wasn't every day his station was on the verge of been discovered. His job was to make sure the secret location of that base was kept secret. Unfortunately, all the secrecy implied not having a garrison force for protection. If they sent a message to the nearest fleet, it would take at least two days for them to get here. Not to mention, the Centauri would intercept the distress message in no time. – "Tell the other colonels of our situation. We might have a surprise test on our hands for our 13 bad girls."

On the C'n'C many of the officers turned to him. The tech which had detected the intruders was stunned.

"But Colonel, we've worked to keep those prototypes a secret. And they haven't been tested yet."

"Well, they were to be tested today. We've just about to raise the bet a little more." – Roland said. As a top secret base for the development of black projects, they had been busy with a whole new class of warships. If the Centauri found them, the project would be history, and so would all of his crew. – "Just pray those Centauri don't find us or we'll have to use the cruisers. For one chance, the storm is hiding us from them."

"Yes, sir. But the wind is blowing the clouds away to North and when that happens…"

"Oh, hell!" – Roland cursed.

Far above the clouds, the two fighters stopped on their approach as their scanners indicated the clouds were clearing.

"I have a better visual, now. Getting a lock…" – Londo gasped. – "Urza, are you seeing this?"

"_I am, friend. There's infrastructure down there. Human infrastructure!_" – Urza recognized the pattern. Human architecture was just like their ships: grey, unimaginative and hideous.

"_We have to warn our forces, Londo._" – Urza said, firing his Rutarian away from the planet, Londo following suit. He had, for a moment, considered firing at the base, but it would serve no purpose.

"They've seen us! Moving away from the planet towards the fleet." – the tech said.

"Jam them!" – Roland went for his link. – "We've been spot! Release the hounds! I repeat, release the hounds!"

The launching bays were actually flat platforms which opened and from each one, a capital ship emerged, black as coal.

"_They are jamming us. I can't get through the fleet._" – Urza shouted. The black cruisers were emerging from the planet's atmosphere. Both pilots had full power directed to the engines to make their escape. Their spacecraft were obviously faster than the 13 heavy cruisers, but they had to get away from their jamming range to warn their comrades. The two Human warships closer to them began firing their forward main guns at the two escapees.

"Matter cannons!" - Londo cursed. – "Evasive actions!"

Just one shot of those batteries and he and Urza would die gloriously. The Rutarians were heavily armed in the front but the rear of the craft was thin. The good thing was they also had an incorporated stealth.

"We're almost out of their range." – Urza said. They both could see their own ships now, but there was no need to warn them. By now, the Centauri task-force could see the black Human ships giving chase to their fighters.

"Lord Batar, we have a reading on the unknown vessels. Their design appears to be Human origin. They are chasing two of ours fighters." – a member of the bridge crew said, analyzing the scanners reading.

"Good. They have made the first move. Now we can counter-attack as self-defense." – Batar was a Lord-Captain who believed retaliation was the key to answer any affront. He had spent his early days fighting Drazi, Human and even a few Dilgar incursions. Whenever he and his comrades could, they would give chase to those barbarian invaders into their own territory and attack any target they came across. – "Tell all ships to…"

"Sir, you should see this." – the man said. – "These aren't normal Human warships."

"Great Maker!" - Batar whispered as he laid eyes on the screen. Thirteen big ships, each with the same design. Two long and massive cylindrical structures on the sides, with two engines on the back and missile silos on the front. In between was the main structure of the ship, with the bridge on the center and in the top of the structure. What most marked the vessels as strange weren't just the dark, shiny hulls. It were the dark, shiny spikes spread out through the hull. The spikes and the color gave the ships a somewhat demonic appearance. Along with all of that, they had a giant cannon-turret on the front. A squadron of fighters could easily fit inside the tube of that massive weapon.

"Sir, the scanners indicate the Human ships are using some sort of organic hull design."

"Organic technology?" – Batar shuddered at the thought. Organic technology was something only very advanced races possessed, even more advanced than Centauri. It was rumored the Minbari had barely scratched the surface of the concept.

Aboard the two leading organic vessels were the Colonels William Hague and Robert Lefcourt. Both had been on Sector 49 I to witness the test-run of the new ships, but those plans had been frustrated.

"Victory_ to _Roanoke,_ we're set_." – Hague's voice sounded through the com channel in the bridge of the _Roanoke._ He was commanding the _Victory_ while Robert was taking the _Roanoke_. – "Let's see what these Despair-class heavy cruisers can do."

"Despair. Where do these guys get these names from?" – Robert shook his head at the name. He then turned to the present situation. – "Distance to target?"

"100 000 kilometers and approaching quickly, sir. They're sending short-range fire dreadnoughts first with long-range fire ships behind them. Fighters been deployed along with the first line." – a crewwoman said.

"Good. They don't know what these ships are capable off, so they're keeping the fighters protected by the muscle of their dreadnoughts. Probably, they think we have fighters of our own." – that last phrase was spoken in a mutter. These 13 Despair cruisers had been finished just recently. Many of them hadn't been supplied with fighters; not even missiles for the silos. And soon enough the Centauri would realize that not only the Humans were outnumbered but they were also outgunned.

Hague and Robert had their fleet in a barrier formation. The cruisers were advancing, deployed in a horizontal line facing the Centauri. This would allow all ships to fire their main guns at the same time, since all would enter firing range, virtually in the same instance. The two colonels just hopped these guns the engineers had worked around the clock to build could do the job.

"How long until we get into range of their scanners?" – Hague asked, on the _Victory_.

"10 minutes sir."

"Activate stealth and tell our wing to do the same." – while Hague was in charge of the left wing of the Despair cruiser fleet, Lefcourt was leading the other.

"_Gentlemen, the biggest of the main guns are the Molecular Slicer beams. As far as we could test, they can cut through anything with no problem."_ – Colonel Roland talked with both other Colonels. – "_But there's a catch; they drain much of the ships' power. Once you start firing, you'll have 3 minutes until the main gun system is automatically shut down to conserve energy. Then its 5 minutes until the main gun can be used again. Plus, you can't use any other main weapon while the slicer beam is been used."_

"_A molecular slicer beam?_" – Lefcourt asked from his end.

"_It's a new technology we reverse-engineered from a ship scavenged. Same where we got the new armor._" – Colonel Roland didn't reveal in fact that said ship had come from Mars and its dig had been ordered directly from the Empress.

"_The heavy plasma cannons spread through the ship work both as anti-fighter batteries and as medium-range broadside guns. But to make that work we had to build them supersized and to make them light enough, they're lightly armed. Even a weak laser hit can severely damage the plasma cannons._" – Roland explained. The 21 heavy plasma cannons were both a defenses and secondary attack guns. Even one of such cannons was built over the slice beam cannon-turret. A fighter of medium size could fit inside one of those cannons so to make it possible for them to rotate quickly enough, their armor is very thin.

"We're about to come into firing range, sir."

"Fire molecular slicer battery once we're in." – Hague ordered. Their target was the first line of ships. If they could destroy it, the Centauri would no longer outnumber them. Once every ship was close enough to hit the enemy with the slicer batteries, they would fire. That's how Hague and Lefcourt planned.

"We'll be in firing range in 3…2…1…"

"Fire!" – the _Victory_ fired its main gun followed by the _Roanoke_ and others less than a second later. The Centauri never saw it coming and, in a way, neither did the Humans. Roland had told them the molecular slicer guns were downgraded versions of the reverse-engineered technology. Hague expected them to be potent, but not this destructive. The beams cut through the Centauri ships like butter! And dreadnoughts, nonetheless!

It was a massacre. Just one touch from the beam and the purple and carmine ships were but floating debris in space. They didn't have any time to fire back. In a matter of little less than 3 minutes, the first line was gone.

"Evade!" – Londo felt like his hearts had just been sliced like their ships. Mighty dreadnoughts, all ready to fight and die were slaughtered just like that even before they could fight! Londo had to maintain every piece of his attention to his surroundings to remain alive, even though he only wanted to stare at the destruction to make sure is eyes were not deceiving him.

All around him, the ships that were charging into battle with him were wasting away. He searched for Urza, who had avoided been blasted into the afterlife by moving away from their escort.

"Great Maker, Urza!" – Londo cried out.

"_All fighters! Break and attack!"_ – the commander said and all squadrons dove towards the black cruisers.

"_I am with you, passo liati._" – Urza said, flying beside his friend.

"Yes, one must make sure you don't do something crazy." – Londo replied with a smirk.

"_Crazy? You speak of me, when you're the crazy liati."_ – Urza retorted. Londo couldn't come up with a comeback for they were in range. Now that he was close enough he could see the hull of the cruiser. It was a strange, as if the black skin pattern changed like in a living creature.

"We're in range! Fire!" – Londo fired his blaster at the black hull, evading at the same time the giant interceptors trying to shoot him. To his great anger, his shots weren't even painting the hull. It was as if they were absorbed into it like a black hole absorbs light.

"_Pay attention, Londo!_" – Urza warned and Londo was barely in time of avoiding a plasma bolt fired by the interceptors.

"Thank you, skal tura."

"_Our guns aren't doing any damage. We should target the interceptors._" – Urza suggested. – "_Amazing they can hit us even with our stealth fighters."_

"Don't be so amazed. They are trying to kill us, after all." – it turned out the interceptors were easy to destroy. For some reason, they weren't covered with the same armor. The bad news were: to do that, the fighters had to come within range of the interceptors.

"_All ships, return to mothership! We're retreating."_ – the voice of their commander ordered.

"We cannot retreat! Our comrades must be avenged!" – Londo shouted. Others, including Urza, backed him up.

"_This is an order! There will be a time for avenge them, but not today. Those new ships are completely unknown to us; our long-range batteries are doing no damage. Lord Batar doesn't want to risk any more lives needlessly."_

Reluctant and bitter, Londo obeyed, wondering how many gods he must have offended to have been cursed with this luck. With that, the Centauri vessels turned tail and opened multiple jump-points, leaving Sector 49. They had been more fortunate than they knew. Had they stood one more minute and the slicer beams would have been fully recharged.

Through the ships and the ground base, cheers flared up. The secrecy of the base had been compromised but the enemy had been driven away.

"_Good jobs, gentlemen!"_ – Roland complimented. – "_You got their collective butts kicked back to Centauri Prime. The Despair cruisers really did the job."_

"You know, Roland. These ships could really use a better name." – Hague said.

"_I agree. After seeing what they can do, I figured they could have a more…suited the name. Let's face the facts, these bad girls are the first step towards the end of our enemies."_ – Lefcourt said.

"The end, hu? Maybe that's the name. They are the _Armageddon_ of our enemies." – Hague suggested.

"_Armageddon-class heavy cruisers it is."_

**(A.N.: The Armageddon-class cruiser is now available on my gallery in Deviantart. My Deviantart name is orichalcosdark. Just go to the gallery and open the folder that says Babylon 5: Human Empire)**

**12th July 2227**

**Vreetan III. Colony. Human Empire.**

Vreetan III, former homeworld of the now extinct Vree race was now settled by the Human Empire for military purposes. Like the Markab colonies of Tiree and Troth, Vreetan was to become a supply world. A supply base was installed for the upcoming invasion and a settlement for shore-leave, called R&R Town, are available on the planet. Shipyards, fighters factories, multi industries, fields for raising food and resources extractors; all needed the feed the Human war machine. In addition to that, research facilities for the several advanced technologies of the Vree. Gravitic and anti-matter tech research, medical science research, telepathic research and a few others. Every one of these sites is situated far away for what was once Viros Oma. For a good time, that place would remain a barren, radioactive crater. Dr. Dorothy Morden was touring one of the facilities with Colonel Leonard Alexander, who had been assigned to oversee this base.

"The technologies we discovered have great military potential. However, some of them would give a major boost in our terraforming. Mars, Europa, Callisto and even Luna could have their own sustainable eco-systems. Even Mars and others would no longer need to have their atmosphere's maintained." – Morden spoke with a toothy grin.

While Earth's moon, Luna and other colonies in the Sol system such as Ganymede, Callisto and Europa were colonized, they were far from been Earth-like. Callisto, Europa and Ganymede were temperate, breathable and pressurized for Humans, or coming close to that in Ganymede's case. Luna was a domed colony, having not been terraformed in any way. Mars could be fully turned into a second Earth but the gravity prevented an ecosystem to adapt.

Even though animals and plants have been introduced in Mars, they weren't adapting well to the different gravity though plants are doing better. Plant life is adapting explosively on Mars for the low gravity allows them to absorb water faster, with less effort and to grow taller than their Earth counterparts.

"Alright Doctor what new toys has your team found that might do that?" – the Colonel was more preoccupied with the military profit of such technologies, but the truth is the Empire expended a good amount of credits in maintaining the atmospheres of those planets.

The cities or domes were equipped with underground gravimetric engines which generated energy and gravity for the colonists. This limited the growth of the cities, however. And building gravimetric engines for an entire planet would be absurdly expensive to build and to maintain.

"Through the data crystal taken from Viros Oma, we discovered how some of their gadgets work, specifically some engines brought from Alzeral II." – that was a Vree colony which after seized had most of its tech taken to Vreetan for study. She showed the colonel the machine. It was as big as a motorcycle and round like a planet. – "This engines are small and virtually don't need maintenance. They can generate gravitic field for countless miles. If we put enough of these, spread through Mars on the right spots, the whole planet would have Earth's gravity."

"Impressive, I admit. With that, Mars' cities could expand freely. Hell, it could actually become our new homeworld." – the colonel said.

As of today, Mars was the colony with the biggest population, slightly surpassed by Orion IV's and rivaled by Proxima III's. On Earth, everyone who could afford would try their luck on the colonies. Mars was the cheapest choice, been habitable though its growth was controlled for only the cities had 1 standard gravity environment. With the former ice caps turned into an ocean in the North hemisphere which flooded Vastitas Borealis, Utopia Planititia, Amazonis Planitia, Chryse Planitia. Valles Marineres has also flooded, turning into a very deep 'river'. Hellas Planitia and Argyre Planitia have been turned into two seas. The ocean and sea shores have been planted with forests, which are adapting well enough.

The climate is regulated to be seasonal and agricultural fields manufactured, Mars's habitable areas have quickly become paradises next to the wasteland that still is the rest of the planet. In fact, when the terraforming was concluded, many in the Supreme Council suggested moving plants and animals to Mars, making it more like Earth, in the hope that one day all the population could be moved there and Mars would turn into the new homeworld.

Unfortunately, Earth's animal life forms had the gravity problem. This added to the fact that the cities can't be settled freely or grow too fast because of the work it takes to build gravimetric engines under the ground painfully slows the growth of Mars and its chances to become Humanity's possible future homeworld. But now that all could change!

"When is this tech scheduled to be reverse-engineered?" – Alexander asked.

"Our teams are already dealing with that, but with the anti-matter tech taking a great deal of our attention, I would say…2235 the gravitic engines would be ready and mass-produced to plant on Mars, Ganymede, Callisto, Europa and even Luna." – Morden said. The colonel hummed, though she could see he was pleased with that. Though, the Colonel Alexander she remembered was always more cheerful, especially now that he had a daughter who would in months be 2 two years old.

"Can these gravitic engines be used for ships instead of gravimetric engines on warships?"

"No sir. Apparently, they only work on environments which have at least 0,1 gravity."

"I see. Anything else?"

"Yes, Colonel. You know I always keep the best for the finale." – the scientist guided the military officer through the facility until they were standing in front of a guarded heavily armored door. Morden showed her identic-card to the guards and next slipped it through the door's slot, opening it. The door closed after the two entered the room. There were few scientist working and analyzing the machines in the workshop.

Every one of them saluted the Colonel, even though none was a soldier. Morden took him to another room where metallic gadgets were been kept inside crates. She showed him one in her hands; the devices looked like thin drills, as long as the colonel's legs and with blue colored, small, vertical, bladed appendages on the sides. Alexander remembered seen one of these been taken slowly apart in the previous room.

"These…drills" – Morden grimaced at the name. They hadn't come up with anything better until now. – "are the biggest leap in the terraforming technology we've ever had. Like the gravitic engines, they can influence a certain area around them, though not as wide as the engines. If you stick four of these things on a barren land like Mars, making a 25 mile square, these devices begin to manufacture the land, turning it into a fertile camp."

"But there's a catch, isn't it." – it wasn't a question what Alexander said.

"Every rose has its thorn." – Morden recited. – "Yes, unlike the gravitic engines, the drills need maintenance while they fertilize the land. The Vree used some sort of organic fuel. We are attempting to manufacture that fuel with algae from Earth and are testing its effectiveness. Although the fuel is expensive to produce, it's not as bad as the money used to plant the forests on Mars and manufacture fields."

"Another step for making Mars our new home. How long?" – Alexander asked.

"These devices are easier to crack; in a year, many will be ready to use on Mars and even Europa and Callisto." – Morden said, putting the device with the others on the crates.

"Good doctor. We're gonna need green lands for our people once this is over."

"Yes, I know." – Morden sighed sadly. – "How are things back on Earth?"

After the Markab worlds were seized, Earth suffered a change in its environment. Resources began been strip-mined to the extreme and factories were ordered to mass-produce without any ecological restrictions. The whole planet was been used to feed the war effort. The mining also increased on some other worlds, though Proxima III, Orion IV, Mars, Deneb IV and other worlds meant for major colonization were spared. Europa's mines were pressed, but just a little. Earth was still damaged from the War of Independence against the Centauri but the aliens had barely any chance to strip-mine it for the Resistance kept ruining their plans.

"They have been strip-mining the planet even more. It's obvious nobody hopes Earth will be like it was before. Many people, both in the government and on the streets, are discussing which should be the new homeworld: Mars, Proxima III or Orion IV." – Alexander said. Mars had always been the first choice, since 2170, it was the first colony. However, when Proxima III was found, 5 years after Mars began been terraformed, many people turned their eye to the outer system. Unlike Mars, Proxima III needed no terraforming, but since it had relatively little less land-mass, its colonization couldn't grow exponentially.

Other 5 years after that, in 2180, Orion system was found and with Orion IV, not needing terraforming and having more landmass than Proxima III to settle in. Problem was, it's on the border of the core Empire, a not very suitable location in case of an invasion by an overwhelming force.

"How are the people dealing with this, back home?"

"They're not enjoying it, but our _spectacular_ victory over Vreetan is giving them the thrill to support all of that." – Alexander smiled bitterly. – "Folks just love when the home-team is kicking butt. They see this war as the first step to cleanse the Universe of the Centauri. What do you think of the war, Dr. Morden?"

That question caught the woman unguarded. She and the colonel were acquainted and had a respectful relation, but he never before had asked her any personnel question like that.

"Well, I think this war is necessary. The Empire must expand if we're to survive our eventual war with the Centauri." – Morden said with certainty.

"Then you think what we're doing is right?"

"No, Colonel. I said the war is necessary, not right. It's a necessary evil. If we remained behind our borders, we would grow complacent. And once the Centauri choose to bring back their old glory days, they would expand and make our hopes to defeat them more distant." – Dorothy Morden took a deep breath before continuing. – "This war will make us monsters worse than the Centauri, but it's the only choice for our people to reach their destiny."

"I've spoken with a few others I know." – Alexander said. – "Some say the only worlds we should be burning were Centauri worlds. Others, like you, claim this is a 'necessary evil'. And a few others, I'm sorry to say, actually enjoy bringing the destruction of entire civilizations."

"Those people simply want an enemy they can easily smash." – Morden said, with distaste. She had no doubt that some of those who thought like that were high rank military officers, too.

"We always told ourselves we are better than the Centauri. I have a feeling in my gut that once this war is over, we will officially be far worse than them." – Alexander admitted.

**20th July 2227**

**Tirrith IV. Colonized. League of Non-Aligned Worlds.**

"Fellow ambassadors, I trust you all have read the reports." – Abbai Ambassador Kalikie said. Tirrith was used as a nexus in the League. A point of meeting where every world could send their delegates to work their differences. Because of that, Tirrith was opened to every member world, though some races like the Vree, Markab, Yolu and Descari were much never interested in sending representatives there.

In the past two weeks, the Abbai delegation has been pushing for this meeting. Despite their efforts, only the Brakiri, Gaim and Drazi bothered to send in their representatives. They had all read the reports of the events that were been whispered on every world: the Fall of Vreetan and the Conquests of Alaca and Balos.

"Yes, we have, Ambassador." – Lumak, the Brakiri envoy, spoke in a bored tone.

"Then you agree that these were the first steps for the Humans and the Dilgar to a war of conquest." – the Abbai said hopefully.

"With respect, what prove is there?" – Lumak questioned. – "There's no evidence that Humans or Dilgar will attack any more worlds."

"And I thought Brakiri had some brains." – the Drazi, Shala'dan, scoffed. – "Haven't you seen how easily these worlds fell? Can't you read the numbers of ships Humans and Dilgar are amassing?"

"I don't tolerate insults, Drazi!" – Lumak snapped, giving a defying look to the blue-scaled alien.

"Enough!" – the Abbai shouted, surprising both other ambassadors. – "The reports are all the evidence you need. And if you still don't believe it, you just need to listen to their news channels."

The screen in the wall of the room lighted up and displayed the speeches the Human and Dilgar sovereigns. Everything was translated in real time by the system.

"So, they have made an alliance. I don't see there's a problem. As a matter of fact, I find it fitting that both races made justice by punishing their enemies." – Lumak's response unleashed a snarl from Shala'dan.

"You don't seriously believe what those lying Dilgar curs say!" – after the attacks on Balos and Alaca, the Dilgar Imperium claimed they were responding to piracy that had been executed and sponsored by those two worlds. The Humans, on the other hand, said the Vree had abducted many of their species on the Earth's 20th century and conducted heinous experiments on them.

"But what the Humans say is true. The Vree have admitted they captured Humans and performed experiments on the specimens. This was simple retribution." – Lumak retorted.

"You only agree to that because with the Vree out of the picture, you now practically own the markets of the League." – Shala'dan accused. Before the Kalikie could intervened, Mi'sedri, the Gaim ambassador spoke for the first time.

"The Queens see wisdom is been prepared. A few months ago, the Intelligence sent a small expedition to Vree space after the Fall of Vreetan. Our scanner found evidence that the Vree homeworld city was nuked from orbit, in an attempt to rid the planet of its native population. The Queens are wary of having such an aggressive race as a close neighbor." – Mi'sedri voice remained emotionless through the translator.

"But you still say you have no evidence." – Lumak rebuffed, while the Gaim said nothing. – "I know what this is about. Your people" – he pointed to Kalikie. – "wants to establish greater control over all of us. You use this so called 'coming invasion' as a motive to get us in your leash."

"Are you mad?" – Shala'dan barked. – "Are you simply ignorant or just spineless to see the facts: Dilgar and Humans claimed to be peaceful isolationists who come out of their corner at the same time and conquered sovereign worlds easily. Next, they make an alliance of military support. If the Markab were still alive, they would see this as an omen."

"Gentlemen, let's stay on topic!" – Kalikie said, calling for order when Lumak was ready to bark back. – "We must make a response to this. If we show both our potential enemies a united front, it may dissuade them from an attack."

"The Brakiri Syndicracy will be no part of this. We will show our own front and increase the military budget. I have nothing else to say. Good day." – Lumak said, standing up and leaving. Shala'dan cursed.

"Damn Brakiri, always more worried about investing only in themselves."

"I knew this would have happened. Why else the other ambassadors refuse to attend." – Kalikie sighed. The League was a failure, just a signed paper and words to keep the Centauri away from their borders. And now they were two members short, the loss of the Vree and Markab had been painful blows for the Abbai.

"My government agrees with your position. We can smell when enemies prepare for war." – Shala'dan said. – "This is no coincidence and even that Lumak knows it. He's just too scared like a helpless cub to see the truth. Cowards prefer to bury their heads in sand than accept the coming battle."

"The Queens appreciate that fear can blind." – Mi'sedri said. It was rare for a Gaim to 'make conversation'. However, the ambassador breed possessed a level of awareness superior to the other Gaim breeds. It was rumored the Queens allowed that to make sure their ambassadors could deal with alien individuals with more ease. – "They agree a unified front could dissuade both sides from a war. Unfortunately, our world is far from yours."

"Hum…" – Shala'dan said. – "I believe I can convince my government to send some ships to your space, through the Narn Regime. We are in good relations with the Narns. Surely they would allow our warships to pass through their space."

"I believe I can convince the Hyach government to do the same." – Kalikie said. Unlike the Brakiri and other, the Hyach believed in the League as they were old friends of the Abbai. Their ambassador didn't participate in the meeting because he was sick with some Hyach disease.

"The Queens thank you. Once they feel our front is safe, we will send our ships in return." – Mi'sedri said. Kalikie smiled for the very first time in days; this was what an alliance should be. She only hoped it would be enough to prevent the terror she felt it was coming.

**1st September 2227**

**Galilei, capital of Mars.**

Surely in the 21st century, not many Humans had ever hoped to go to the beach on an alien planet. But now, to the people of Mars, it was just as natural as breathing. Galilei had been built close by Isidis Planitia, which was now a bay with the very first beach on Mars.

Alfredo Garibaldi was at a bar taking a drink. He had taken his family to the beach to enjoy the long leave he had been granted. He knew the big one was coming so he wanted to pass all the time he could with Mike and Sofia, in case he never…

"Nice seeing you here, Freddy." – a voice called out. It took the soldier a moment to recognize it. He turned around and his suspicions turned real when he saw David Sinclair walking up to him.

Sinclair and Garibaldi had met at the Fall of Vreetan, once the planet was captured. While the marine was put as a ground troop, Sinclair and his squad were sent to survey and give aerial support in case the natives did something nasty. The planet had become a fortress by the time they left. There were many techs on Vreetan that must be protected, though Markab was greater in terms of defenses. The two had met by coincidence and started talking about the Ragnarok's Last Roar. Even today, the famous dreadnought's name was whispered here and there for her crew's sacrifice. Soon enough, they discovered they had a few things in common, including their opinion of the war.

Later, when both men returned to Mars they introduced their families to each other. Sinclair's kids, especially Malcolm, seemed to get quite well with Michael. Today, both families had met by coincidence on the Galilei beach while Garibaldi went to get a drink.

"Dave!" – Fred complimented. It was strange to see the pilot and the marine on their beach shorts than on uniform. While the two men talked, the kids were fooling around in the forests on the shore. Malcolm and Michael were accompanied by a girl their age they had met from school: Tessa Holloran, though she went by 'Number One' for some reason.

"There it is. Ain't it a beauty?" – Michael said, watching the object of their attention with a pair of binoculars. The three Martian kids were watching the very first beehive on Mars. The voluminous beeswax made object stood tightly held to a tree branch.

"Did you bring 'em?" – Malcolm Sinclair asked. Michael Garibaldi nodded showing him 3 baseball bats.

"Come one, who can brag about beating the crap out of the first beehive that ever existed on the planet?" – Michael insisted. The three kids were still in their swimming suites.

"Malcolm!" – a voice shouted behind the threesome. It was Jeffrey Sinclair scolding a few meters behind them. – "What are you doing?"

"History." – Malcolm replied with a mischievous grin.

"Which, in your case, is something stupid, isn't it?" – Jeffrey tapped with his foot on the dirt.

"We're gonna be the first guys to beat up a beehive on Mars." – Michael said, gleeful.

"You're joking, aren't you?" – Jeffrey winced. As an answer, the three kids approached the beehive quietly. – "They're not really gonna do it."

"At the count of three." – Tessa said. They waved their baseball bats behind, preparing the strikes. – "One…"

"They wouldn't." – Jeffrey said.

"…two…three!"

"They just did!"

The shock of three strikes simultaneously knocked out the hive which fell cracked on the ground. In a fraction of a second, an angry swarm of bees attacked the three Humans who ran away into the beach. The only one who escaped unharmed was Jeffrey who just shook his head in disbelief.

**1st January 2228**

**T'lad'tha II. Colony. Descaran Elders.**

Sinclair gave one last sight to the burning colony world before turning back and rejoining the task group jumping into hyperspace. It had started. Vreetan, Balos and Alaca were just a warm up and a show of force and signature of the alliance. Now the real Human/Dilgar joint invasion of the League had started. The Dilgar were now piercing through the Abbai and Drazi while the Humans were making moves on the Yolu and Descari.

"All birds, join with the _Vladimir_! Let's jump out of here." – Sinclair commanded to his squad.

This attack was carried out by Major Pain as a carrier strike to weaken the Descari. The Human forces consisted in a Sagittarius-class carrier which brought 400 fighters. Escorted by 4 destroyers, 2 cruisers and 60 extra fighters for support, it had been a piece of cake against the puny Descari defenses. When the Vree fell, the Descari doubled the garrison fleet around T'lad'tha system, fearing their new neighbors. It made no difference

The objective of this assault was not to weaken the enemy. The Descari were powerful and if they decided to become conquerors, they would be a terror. They just lacked the mindset. Any other race would think of re-enforcing the colony but not the Descari. They would evacuate everyone left alive on T'lad'tha II back to Bestine, their homeworld. Now the Empire has all the Descari right where it wants them.

"_This is Major Pain of Nemesis destroyer _Vladimir_ to all ships. Set course to Troth."_ – the fleet commander ordered. Troth was being strip-mined to feed the war effort like Earth. It's not meant to become a major colonization world when the war is over. While Tiree and Markab are been spared from massive resource extraction, an ecologist would frown if they saw the rate of mining from those two worlds. Vreetan was the base for the Second Invasion fleet, under Admiral Enkvist to strike at the Yolu. Tiree and Troth were meant for the coreward fronts.

Sinclair landed his fighter on the _Vladimir,_ the Nemesis destroyer to which his squadron was attached to, feeling rueful.

**15th January 2228**

**Bestine (aka Descara II). Homeworld. Descaran Elders.**

The Descari defense fleet had for some days now rose from the lush forests of the homeworld into space to protect it. The Descari fleet is made of joined technologies of the simplest levels, for the Descari had recently acquired inter-stellar travel.

It seemed like a chain reaction: 31 years ago, the Narns acquired space travel by finding a jump-gate on their system. They expanded in a pacific but absurdly quick pace, meeting other races, including the Gaim. After a pacific first contact, the Gaim acquired space travel and hyperspace through the Narns. Less than two years later, the Descari attained that same technology through contact with the Gaim, though this one wasn't so pacific.

While the Descari have a Starfleet and jump-gates, their technology back at home is still similar to the early 21st century Earth, except that they bought particle weapons and simple lasers from the Narns and they have no nukes, for their more or less pacific history never gave them the need to build weapons of mass-destruction.

"Admiral Crockarn, the probes are indicating some strange disturbance in hyperspace." – the commander said. The Descari were hunch bag creatures, descended from apes. With developed muscled, they can even throw away a Narn like a rag doll.

"Source?" – Crockarn asked.

"Unknown. It's very distant from the beacon, though."

"Must be nothing to concern." – the Descari admiral dismissed. Whatever it was, it couldn't be the Humans. After they attacked T'lad'tha II, the colony was evacuated and the beacon from Bestine to T'lad'tha was de-activated. It was impossible for them to use that route to get to Bestine. At least, Crockarn hoped.

Unbeknownst to him, the interference in hyperspace was actually the First Invasion fleet, ready for action again under Admiral Yamada Harukaze. The Descari believed they were relatively safe. They thought the Humans would have to conquer N'chak'fah to get to them. But fate was against them as a year before, Humans had discovered and mapped invasion routes for their front on the war. One of these routes went from Troth to Bestine, avoiding the isolated T'lad'tha system.

"Admiral, we picked up a few faint scanners from probes passing by." – Hall reported. The fleet was standing by and ready to initiate the battle plan.

"Did they see us?"

"Negative, Ma'am. They couldn't even get off their beacon." – Hall responded with a grin. Technologically, the Human Empire was superior in every way. The carrier strike on the Descari only colony was to terrify them, mainly. It would make them sloppy and irrational. That added to the surprise attack Harukaze had planned would make the battle a piece of cake. Like she demonstrated in the battle for Vreetan, she never gives her enemy any choice.

"Good, what's the latest on Vice Admiral Richards?" – Harukaze's fleet was practically split in half, though she held a bigger bulk of the forces. The First Invasion fleet was divided purposefully for the plan to work. Both were hidden in hyperspace with stealth fully activated and slightly off the beacon. Descari ships had primitive scanners and their navigators weren't experienced enough to travel to far from the jump-routes.

"He's in position and ready. All of our ships are prepared, Ma'am."

"Open a channel to the _Vladimir_. I'll talk with him in the briefing room." – Harukaze got up from her chair and went to the room where she could talk more privately with her fellow officer and friend. Major William 'Bill' Pain was respected all over the fleet for his role on the Fall of Vreetan and his success on the assault to T'lad'tha II. He was someone Yamada Harukaze trusted entirely.

"Bill, are your ships ready?"

"Aye, Ma'am! Awaiting the clear move in order."

"I don't need to tell you how important your part in the battle is, Bill." – Harukaze spoke monotonously. She rarely smiled. – "The Descari weapons are primitive and we could still win with a straight forward attack. But if we stick to the plan, we can end this quickly and spare more than 90% of our forces. Save hundreds of lives."

"I got it, Yamada. My task groups are ready."

"Good luck. Go now." – they saluted each other and the screen went black. While Harukaze maintained her forces slightly off the beacon and Admiral Tyler Richards did the same, though he was operating in the new invasion jump-route.

"All ships," – William Pain said to every vessel in his command. – "prepare for jump. Stealth will be kept to a minimum and be ready for evasive maneuvers. Destroy any target of opportunity but do not be aggressive; we're here to lure them, not to scare them. Be ready to receive the retreat signal at any time. You know the rest."

"Jump engines ready and charged, sir." – Ari Ben Zair said.

"All ships, jump!"

Back in normal space, Pain's forces came upon the Descari fleet. This surprised the natives for more than one reason.

"Sir, Human vessels detected jumping from hyperspace."

"Yes, I can see them perfectly." – Crockarn said, watching from the window of the bridge. The enemy vessels were easily outnumbered by the defensive fleet. - "Looks like cutting ourselves off from T'lad'tha didn't do it. Sensors?"

"Nothing more, sir. Only that small fleet. Scanners having a hard time locking on." – the subordinate replied.

"Stealth technology?"

"It could be sir. They're coming fast on attack vector."

"Tell the vanguard of the fleet to follow me." – Crockarn ordered. – "We're meeting them in battle."

"But…sir, if we hold position the defense grid will give us support."

"I know, Lieutenant. But we have them outnumbered. If we can take an offensive against them and actually defeat them, it might give our people a much needed morale boost." – Grockarn explained. Unlike most Descari, he feared the Universe but didn't dread it. He was well aware that sometimes big gambles had to be played. – "Now, let's move."

The front of the Descari fleet moved in, meeting Major Pain's onset.

"I've got to admit, they took the bait faster than I expected. Maybe they aren't chicken out, after all." – Pain said.

"Not a very smart move they're making." – Ben Zair opined. – "They're out of range of the defense grid."

"True, but they're bringing heavy reinforcements against us, more than enough to overwhelm us by sheer numbers." – Pain retorted. – "All ships, avoid using matter batteries. We must make sure they don't lose their nerve, yet. Now break and attack."

"They're launching fighters, sir."

"Respond in the same way. But tell our fighters to keep the stealth inactive." – Pain commanded.

The ships came at each other matched in everything except in numbers. The natives had the advantage on that point. Pain realized many of his people would die in this, but should the strategy work many other lives on the main fleet would be spared.

The Humans ships began firing first since their stealth, though not fully active, didn't allow the Descari to fire at the same range. While the capital ships abstained from using their most potent weapons, the fighters did not. They were more agile and better armed than their Descari counterparts.

"Enemy fighters coming from the side, trying to outflank us." – Ari Ben Zair informed.

"Man the weapons. Turrets and interceptors warm up!" – Pain ordered to the soldiers manning the anti-fighter batteries.

Eartharmy's arsenal had two different types of turrets: the bubble-turrets and the standard turrets. The bubble structure can rotate in a 360º amplitude, while the cannon itself can turn from one side of the bubble to the other. This type of weapon was mostly seen on the Caesar cruisers. The bubble turret could be used as an anti-fighter gun or used against big ships.

The standard turret was placed on a 360º rotational structure but the weapon itself was immobile. This turret was shorter range and used only as anti-fighter weaponry.

"The _Conqueror_ has been dealt extensive damage." – Ben Zair reported in after the _Vladimir_ finished her enemy with a combination of bow plasma guns and fighter escort.

"Tell her to fall back." – Pain commanded. – "Tell the _Titan _to join us, we're going for big prize."

Ben Zair disguised a growl. The _Titan_ was the Tormentor-class destroyer captained by Roger Sterns. The commander hadn't forgotten the way Sterns humiliated him about 2 years ago. The _Titan_ joined with the _Vladimir_ against three Descari ships, one of which was the flagship.

"Major, we're getting a reading on the sensors." – Ben Zair frowned. – "The Descari are calling in most of their fleet. Turns out we're been a little tougher than they expected."

The _Vladimir_ shook up as a friendly ship nearby exploded as its nuclear reactor went critical. Two other ships were severely damaged. Pain sighed. He knew this was to come, but he kept his focus. They only had to hold this for a while longer.

"Time for most of the Descari fleet to leave defense grid range?"

"One minutes, sir."

"Just a little longer…"

"Sir, are you sure about this?" – the Descari officer asked his senior.

"Commander, we have all seen the reports of the attack on T'lad'tha. The Humans attack with full strength. If they sent so few ships then it's because we're fighting a scout party. After all, with the jump-route severed, it's no wonder they had to scout the systems nearby to find us." – Crockarn explained his train of thought. – "We have to destroy them before they report in."

"Sir, they're retreating!" – the second said. – "They are retreating."

All over the Descari fleet, soldiers were cheering. Only Crockarn wasn't part of that majority.

"Tell all ships to pursue. We can't let them get away."

"Admiral, that would leave homeworld with only a third of the fleet for protection."

"We will only pursue for a while. If we can't destroy them all by them, we'll pull back to Bestine." – Crockarn said, confident. The two thirds of the Descari fleet moved in a wild chase of the Humans. After half an hour, when Crockarn's forces were way out of Bestine's orbit, Pain and his remaining ships came to a halt.

"Sir, Humand ships have stopped on their escape. Holding position."

"Confirm that, Commander." – Crockarn said.

"Confirmed. Should we stop?"

"Negative." – Crockarn responded, his forces continued to approach the unmoving small fleet of ships.

"They're closing in, Major." – Ben Zair said. The tension was palpable. – "Entering firing range. Weapons hot!"

"Send it now!" – Pain said and the signal was sent to the bulk of the fleet under Admiral Harukaze in hyperspace. By using the telemetry of Pain's ships, Harukaze and her fleet jumped right in front of Crockarn's. Pain's ships rejoined Harukaze's and re-activated their stealth. No more holding back.

The Descari, suddenly outgunned and outnumbered, were quickly overwhelmed. By advancing beyond the relative safety of the defense grid, the Descari became wary and scared. Now, confronted by this superior force, they were terrified. And fear when in great amounts conducted to irrationality.

"Sir, orders?" – the Descari commander panicked. Short-circuits and mini-explosions were sparked all over the bridge as the newly came Human warships fired.

"Fire back!" – Crockarn roared.

"We can't get a lock on. The Human stealth increased!" – the Commander panicked. The voices of the bridge crew were in the same tone.

"Call all of our ships!" – Crockarn was on the verge of a panic fit. In his fear, he had doomed the third of his fleet that remained safe within the defense grid range.

"Ma'am, they're calling all of their ships." – Hall said.

"Once all of their ships are out of the defense grid cover, send the signal to Vice Admiral Richards." – Harukaze ordered. – "Is the jump-gate secured?"

"Aye, our scouts detected ships, freighters leaving from the other side of Bestine. They're heading for the gate."

"Must be refugees. Are they escorted, Captain?"

"Negative, Admiral. They probably thought their fleet could hold for longer. Should we send someone to intercept?"

"Negative, Captain. We still need every ship we." – Harukaze preferred to play safe, since this battle was going smoothly. The Descari fleet was been gutted. Harukaze had come with a better idea to improve the terror; the channels of the _Heracles_ were constantly opened to receive any transmission from the Descari ships. Whenever the fleet commander's ship was taken out, a new commander announced they took control. The ship broadcasting that was detected and marked as a special target to be immediately destroyed. A newly self-proclaimed fleet commander lasted less than ten minutes. Fear, among other emotion like remorse, could cripple anyone's will. The enemy was been picked off tens by tens, for they were consumed by fear.

"Admiral, the rear of the enemy fleet is turning back to the planet."

"Damn it!" – Harukaze had hoped the Descari would advance just a little more. They were still on the edge of their satellites range. – "Send the signal to the Vice Admiral."

Vice Admiral Tyler Richards was in charge of the last part of the fleet, still concealed in hyperspace. His ships jumped right behind the falling Descari force, blocking its way back to the planets orbit.

"_Welcome, Vice Admiral. Hope we didn't disappointed you."_ – Harukaze voice sounded in the bridge of the Pulsar dreadnought _Nebuchadnezzar_, Richards' flagship.

"Bettah latah than nevah, Admirowl." – Tyler Richards said in his strange accent. Richards was famous in the navy for this. Nobody could exactly place the origin of his accent and Richards has always been cryptic about it.

His job was a bit more complicated they had anticipated but no problem. Should the Descari have continued moving away from Bestine for a while longer, Richards could have deployed the bombardment units to take out the defense grid, too. However, that would have to wait now, until the Descari navy was annihilated.

Richards attacked from behind with Harukaze on front; the aliens were falling quickly with Human casualties practically null. Uncoordinated, terrified, outgunned and outnumbered, they never had a chance. In less than 30 minutes, all that remained from the Descari fleet were a few scattered vessels. Pursue parties were dispatched to hunt down the fleeing warships. Many of said warships went to protect the refugee freighters.

"We won, Admiral!" – Hall cheered, like many others in the fleet.

"Not yet, Captain. Though victory is very close, now." – Harukaze turned to the screen displaying the refugee situation. – "What about the refugee situation?"

"The surviving Descari warships are surrounding the refugee convoy. Our ships are about to intercept. We still have the jump-gate secured."

"With the warships, they can jump into hyperspace. Dispatch a wing of destroyers to support. Warships are the primary target, since the freighters aren't jump capable." – Harukaze ordered. – "Tell Vice Admiral Richards to call the mass drivers."

While the defense grid had primitive weapons, the Descari had two immense layers of satellites. Even if the weapons were low, the sheer amount of fire power could wipe out a good number of ships.

This is where the mass drivers came in handy. Mass-drivers were forbidden except against the Centauri. But there were times they could be used without damaging the planet.

"Tell the mass-driver units to target the satellites only." – Harukaze said. – "Anyone who doesn't do so will have a small chat with me and, by all that is damned, I'll make sure they are court martialed and sent on a one-way ticket to Beta 7 IV."

Beta 7 IV was a cold but habitable world used part as a big ice-mining operation and a penal colony. One of the reasons why the strict regime of the Earth Empire managed to keep most criminals on the line was the fear of that world. It's an open secret that Beta 7 IV penal institute is an extensive force labor camp for the worst and most ruthless criminals. Most people slept better at night knowing the scumbags were all toiling in freezing hell.

"That'll be very convincing, Admiral." – Hall said, honestly. The Hiroshima bombers were standing inside the satellites' weapons range supported by other warships with heavy long-range guns. While the stealth helped protecting the ships, if they got to close the defense grid could swarm the invaders with lasers and particle beams.

"Began bombardment." – Harukaze commanded. The ships equipped with mass-drivers had to be extra careful. They could only aim at the satellites and use the rocks to distract them while the capital ships and fighters took them out. The _Heracles_ joined in. It would take time, but the fall of Bestine was imminent.

Along with the convoy, the Human warships were closing in. Harukaze could see that in a radar display. The blue triangles were the Human ships moving in different formations, approaching the line of red triangles, the Descari ships. Harukaze turned her attention back to the bombardment scene. The _Heracles_ just intercepted three missiles and retaliated, obliterating the satellite.

A sonorous alarm called her attention back to the radar of the convoy. The blue triangles stopped just as they were about to open fire on the red triangles.

"What is happening?" – Harukaze shouted.

"Ma'am, jump point forming right on top of the Descari convoy! Five of them." – Hall reported.

"You have a reading on them?"

It was hard to determine which side had their collective jaws dropping faster on the floor, the Humans or the Descari, when saucer-like ships exited the vortexes.

"Vree warships!" - Hall shouted shocked.

"No. Those aren't Vree." – Harukaze got up from her command chair and watched the footage closer. The ships' design resembled a helm's wheel of an ancient sailing vessel. At first she couldn't put her finger on it, but then it hit her. Those' ships were shaped like a symbol she had seen once before. Dharmachakra! – "Dharmachakra! Those are Buddhist ships!"

"They are opening a channel to the chasing group."

"Receive it, Captain. Patch it through my station." – Hall did as the Admiral commanded. The screen displayed a bald man wearing Buddhist monk clothes.

"_This is Yamatto Chong of the Buddhist Faith. The Descari refugees are under our protection._" – the monk spoke without even flitching.

"Tell the chasing wing to hold position and do not fire, on any circumstance. Then open a channel to that Buddhist ship." – Harukaze said and soon she could communicate with the other Human. – "This is Admiral Yamada Harukaze of the First Invasion fleet. The Descari ships you're shielding are enemies of the Empire. By order of our government, you shouldn't even be here."

"_We have seceded from the Human Empire. Therefore we don't have to obey its laws."_ – Chong responded.

"We give you five minutes to withdraw. Your ships are completely unarmed. If you don't comply, we will use deadly force." – Harukaze said before closing the channel. – "Captain, send a message on secured channel to the chasing party. Tell them to lock onto the Buddhists and power up their guns. But do not fire on any circumstance. Not unless I command."

"Sent." – Hall paused before speaking again. – "Permission to speak freely, Admiral?"

"Go on." – Harukaze looked at him, sitting back on her chair.

"Aren't we going to attack them, Ma'am? They are clearly transgressing the law. We should use deadly force at once."

"Captain Hall, those people out there are the ones we swore to protect when we accepted the uniforms we use. While we may take orders from the Primus-Generals and the Empress, it is the people who we serve. Down from the most influence of plutocrats to the poorest of beggars." – Harukaze spoke like patiently explaining a basic but important concept to a child. – "I don't plan to kill those monks. I only intend to scare them off. If it doesn't work, we'll let them go."

"Admiral, that will have consequences on your report."

"Yes and I will face those consequences without looking down, because no matter what happens, I won't change my decision. I won't fire on our own people."

"But Ma'am." – Hall insisted. – "I understand you have fought and killed pirates and raiders since your first years on a ship. Isn't this a similar situation?"

"No. Pirates and raider prey on ships for their own gain. These monks are risking their lives to save refugees. They are actually coming up against heavily armed warships, with nothing more than unarmed transport vessels. They are doing this on the firm belief it is the right thing to do." – Harukaze gave another glance to the Dharmachakra-like ships. Minutes passed slowly as the Humans ships came closer to the convoy with guns blazing but not shooting. The monk didn't move. They were surrounded and the battered Descari warships they were shielding couldn't risk jumping in such a tight space. Four minutes were already out, but Harukaze didn't need to wait any longer to know the result.

"Captain, tell our ships to fall back. Let the convoy go."

"With all due respect Admiral, the five minutes…"

"There's no point, the monks won't get out of the way. I had seen that once I looked into that Chong's eyes."

"If you did, than why giving them an ultimatum in the first place?" – Hall questioned.

"Because I had to at least try. Now send those orders." – Harukaze ordered absently.

"The captain is asking for confirmation of those orders." – Hall said, handing the intercom to his senior officer. Harukaze confirmed her orders to the captain of the pursuer group and they let the escapees go. The beaten Descari cruisers opened multiple jump-points and the freighters followed along with the Monks.

"Shouldn't we send a scout party to track them down, Ma'am?"

"We can't waste ships. We need every capable vessel to take down the defense grid and assume control of Bestine within schedule." – Harukaze said, returning her full attention to said endeavor. – "On any rate, there's only one place they could have gone. T'lad'tha is inaccessible for now, the Gaim and Llort wouldn't be very happy to see the Descari on their territories."

"So you think they're going to the Yolu?" – Hall concluded.

"Where Admiral Enkvist is handling them. Though he's buried up to his neck in the battle. I doubt he'll waste ships to pursue some refugees that I allowed to escape. Plus, the monks will probably find a way to bypass Enkvist."

As the fleet dedicated all of its fire to the last shield Bestine had, Harukaze couldn't help but feel slightly glad that some of her people still had a remnant of compassion.

"_Fair winds, Mr. Chong._" – she wished in her thoughts. Unbeknownst to her or any on her fleet, there was a Gaim scout task group that had watched the last stages of the battle. They jumped out of there before the Humans detected them.

When the defense grid was virtually all neutralized, the fleet approached the defenseless homeworld for the final stage: planetary Armageddon. Unlike on Vreetan, Bestine was bombarded with biological nukes, though they were by no chances as deadly as those conceived by the now Warmaster Jha'dur. Bestine was a thriving world, filled with predatory life and much more dangerous than Proxima IV. Also, while the Descari Navy was gone, the ground troops were still intact and while they were on their homeworld, they would feel confident on victory. This altogether had convinced the Joint Chiefs to not use Bestine as a base for the coreward expansion. They had a much easier target for the role. The soldiers would be needed to ground assaults on other homeworlds. So Bestine would have to die to cover the Human flank.

**27th January 2228**

**N'chak'fah system. Inhabited. Gaim Intelligence.**

"Chong just talked to me." – Brother Theo said to William Dexter, on board of the _Forgiveness_. – "They have saved a few thousand Descari refugees. They're been taken to Krich II."

Krich II, the world habited by the Catholic Christianity from which Theo was part of, was similar to Bestine's habitat. There, the Descari would stay at the care of Sister Helena and her people.

"How many?" – Dexter asked, grimly.

"Little more than 5 thousand." – Theo shook his head in sadness.

Previously, they had gone to Bestine and tried to talk with the Descaran Elders about the eminent danger. They had warned them their own people would fall upon Bestine. The Descari were xenophobic and had refused to accept their offer of taking refuges to their worlds. Descari are powerful but dread the unknown; and they didn't know if they could trust the faithful humans. They didn't realize that ignoring the Universe didn't just make it go away. Now, on N'chak'fah, the two followers of God were trying to help this other race.

"Out of billions, only a few thousand." – Theo lamented.

"At least we tried."

"It made no difference, nonetheless." – the monk sighed. – "What's worse, Eartharmy has used the Bestine jump-route to attack and conquer the Yolu colony of Kitab III."

"Look, I know how it feels. I failed those people too. But at least we tried. I would rather try to help someone in need and fail than to stay quiet and do nothing." – Dexter said.

"I just hope we have better luck this time." – Theo said to the former chaplain. The _Forgiveness_ was granted permission to dock on N'chak'fah's orbit. The Human emissaries would soon speak with the Gaim representative.

On the deep space of the system, the activities of the Human renegades had been followed and watched by a Tal-kona'sha. The same female Tal-kona'sha journeying on a corepod ship from some time ago. And this time, she had two males accompanying her. The galaxy was changing and she wanted to learn the changes for herself. The Humans had conquered Bestine and were waging war against the Yolu. The Dilgar had the Abbai colonies on their hands and were fighting a desperate battle on Fendamir.

"_They are emissaries of doom, trying to escape the fire their brother and sisters are spreading."_ – the female Tal-kona'sha said telepathically.

"_Agents of changing, whether they realize it or not."_ – one of her companions replied.

"_Are these what you intend to see?_" – the other male asked.

"_Yes__. This war will change the galaxy. There will be many roles played in this change. Conquerors, saviors, victims and watchers. There's much to learn from this."_


	6. I am dying

Hello, to all my readers. If you are reading this it's because I am dying. In fact, when you begin reading these goodbye words I might be already dead. I've been diagnosed with cancer and this is probably my last chance to update and I've been planning this ever since the day I found out I have it.

I regret many things I haven't yet done, including ending this fict to which I was dedicating myself. I have many of my readers to thank. But none deserves more thanks than Lord of Misrule, the writer of the master piece that is The Dilgar War and inspirer for The Human Empire.

For this, I'll give you a resumed ending to the fict, starting next chapter. In spite of that, if anyone wants to continue this fict, I would appreciate. Just so long it continues inside the B5 universe and no slash, please! Do that in my memory.


	7. There's nothing to lose

**THE HUMAN EMPIRE**

**The parts in bold are resumed, since I don't have time to finish them.**

**Chapter 7: There's nothing to lose**

**28th January 2228**

**N'chak'fah II. Homeworld. Gaim Intelligence.**

Ne'gizrah was the name of the monitor station. Unlike what one may think at first, the station wasn't built like something one would expect from a race of insect humanoids. The design was mostly Narn, with some Centauri touches. A few additional structures were of Gaim architecture. Both Theo and Dexter were chosen as envoys and it was a job they weren't enjoying. They needed pressurized suits and oxygen masks to survive in the over-pressurized, methane atmosphere of the station. The Gaim envoy was called Mi'narte of the Queen Mikaro.

**(A.N.: This chapter, though uncompleted, has its own map, on Deviantart.)**

Mi'narte was, despite been of the ambassador breed, a menacing looking creature. His eyes were big black bulbs, with two long antennas and several appendages coming out of his mouth. But that was nothing compared with his body guard, which was of the warrior breed. The Gaim warrior stood tall on six legs. Its whole body was covered in a thick, spiky armor. The arms were four, each with bladed claws. The head was a bigger version of the ambassador's with big mandibles dripping with a stench of poison.

"On behalf of the Human Faiths, we are grateful for you accepting our plea." – Theo began. It had been agreed he was the one leading the talk.

Theo Ankises was older and more practical, though he listened to the voice of his conscience every now and then. He was strict and silent, but not by any means callous.

William Dexter, mostly called by his last name, was more jovial and open-hearted. A loud man, with a voice that spread jolliness. Unlike Theo, he was less practical but a cheerier company for someone who needs motivation. Unfortunately, Theo appreciated the silent and Dexter couldn't really comprehend Theo ways. They had different interpretations of the Bible.

Unbelievably enough, they worked finely together. Been two pieces of different materials makes them an almost perfect team to speak in the name of the Human Faiths. While they were different, they had the same objective.

"Most of the Queens wanted to capture your people and dissect you to learn of the weaknesses of your race. However, our Queen in her wisdom convinced the others to hear your proposal before considering the dissection." – Mi'narte said neutrally, though through the translator it was impossible to tell which tone he was talking. Theo and Dexter gave each other a subtle look before the monk continued.

"We have come to offer our help. Our people will soon or later come for this world. And truthfully speaking, we don't believe you stand a chance."

"Yes, the Queens believe so. They don't believe in false hopes when the facts are clear. We have scouted some Human activity, like their assault on the Descari homeworld." – Mi'narte said. – "What help can you offer?"

"Our ships are unharmed and we bring no extra supplies. But we have plenty of room for refugees." – Theo gave word to Dexter.

"My people and I" – Dexter spoke carefully. – "live on Soom V. The system has another planet, Soom III, which is very similar to your homeworld and habitable for your kind. We can transport about 30 000 refugees at maximum, if we start right now."

"Only our Queens are important enough to be saved and they are too old to be transported by any means." – Mi'narte said. The Gaim Queens grew until they reached gigantic proportions. At the age of 10, they couldn't even move.

Before the Human emissaries could speak further, Mi'narte and his body guard began hissing. Their antennas waved more violently. The two Humans grew wary but if soon they understood they weren't about to be attacked.

"The Queens need time to deliberate on the matter. We will convene again here into 7 hours." – Mi'narte relayed. – "If you wish, you can stay here at the base. We have quarters with life support for your kind."

"We appreciate, but no. We have to convene in our ships." – Theo said quickly. While it was partially true, the Humans would rather avoid been in a place full of killer insects. Besides, while the Human suites could provide them with the life-support they needed, nothing could block the horrible stench of the methane atmosphere. – "We only ask for your leaders to choose quickly."

Later, the two were back in the shuttle heading to the Catholic ship _Forgiveness_. While the fleet was composed of both Catholic Christian and True Gospel Mission Baptist Church, both representatives were staying aboard the _Forgiveness_.

"Well, that didn't go as planned." – Theo commented.

"You saw the way they reacted?" – Dexter asked causally. – "Even after he said the Queens couldn't be moved."

"Yes. It makes me think that wasn't exactly the truth." – Theo murmured while Dexter was docked the shuttle on the docking bay. – "If their Queens are debating our proposal it must be because it's possible to save them."

"Or maybe they have a contingency plan we don't know of." – Dexter opined, exiting the shuttle.

"You think so?" – Theo said doubly.

"I hope so. I mean, I have to think positively. Otherwise, I would be like you." – Dexter gave a small grin to the monk rolling his eyes.

**29th January 2228**

**Kitab III. Colony (Conquered). Yolu Theocracy (Human Empire occupied).**

"Ground units have finished eliminating the civilians of the last colony." – Captain Emma Watson reported to her senior officer, Admiral Nicolai Enkvist of the Second Invasion fleet. Enkvist was in charge of the Yolu front and was a veteran Admiral with experience taken from years of fighting Markab.

"Excellent." – Enkvist spoke passible English with barely any sign of his Russian heritage. – "I'll have to congratulate General Roquefort for that. We're ahead of schedule. What about scouts?"

"No Yolu ships detected on the system or close to the outside."

"Then we can relax a little and start making Kitab III into our post." – the former Yolu colony was to be used as a foothold on the enemy space.

During the first stage of the Yolu front, Enkvist used the Photikar-Pa'rl secret jump-route for a few softening up assaults. Of course, the Russian never intended to take Pa'rl on a single assault, like Harukaze is doing with races that have smaller territories and are less advanced.

The Yolu, being a space-fearing race for little more than a millinium, have tough ships so this would have to be taken slowly and methodically. First, Enkvist needed a holding on their territory from where he could launch attacks or fall into defensive.

If Enkvist had continued with the assaults, soon or later they would have discovered the invasion route. Now they would focus their forces to retake Kitab III rather than finding out how did Human ships attacked their home-system from who knows where.

"It's just too bad we didn't leave any Yolu ship intact." – Watson lamented.

"Casualties of war, Captain." – Enkvist shrugged. – "The Yolu fleet had to be treated with aggression. We couldn't risk letting a single ship intact."

Kitab III was used for industrialization when it belonged to the Yolu. Some of the infrastructure, including resource-extractors, were still intact. That would fit to fuel Kitab III into becoming a fortress. They had scored a good victory that had shaken the enemy, though it wasn't exactly cheap.

Enkvist still remembered all the powerful beams of the Yolu ships cutting through his own ships' hulls. All the fusion and molecular weapons which could out do matter cannons any day.

The Admiral's mind recalled his ships exploding and that brought him back to when he watched the footage of the 'Ragnarok's Last Roar' of the Fall of Vreetan. Oskar Nebogatov, late captain of the dreadnought, had been one of Enkvist's closest friends. A veteran like himself, though younger, Nebogatov was on his way to be promoted. But thanks to a lucky shot of a Vree missile, his old friend had to throw away that chance and his own life. That thought alone made Enkvist clench his fists at the aliens who forced his friend to commit suicide for the sake of victory.

"Admiral…"

"Hum…"- Enkvist was caught on his thoughts. Captain Watson had been trying to get his attention for a while now.

"Yes, Captain?"

"Should the fleet take defensive formation?"

"Yes, though it's doubtful the Yolu will attack right now." – Enkvist said. – "We will only take the defensive when necessary. When the next battle comes we must make sure to be the ones starting it and having the initiative. Aggressive all the time and only go on the defensive when necessary. The Yolu are powerful, but uncoordinated. When faced with a foe that doesn't stop, they will cower."

"Our intelligence predicts it will take little less than a month for the Yolu to try to retake Kitab." – Watson said. – "Which gives time enough for our freighters to get here and restock the fleet."

"By the time they launch their counter-attack, our Invasion fleet will be ready to battle again. Except that we won't have that battle here." – Enkvist explained with a grin.

**1st February 2228**

**N'chak'fah system. Inhabited. Gaim Intelligence.**

Engines powered up as the amalgam of different design ships prepared to leave the system. There were the Christian ships, which were now followed and escorted by a portion of the Gaim fleet.

Theo Ankises was having a million thoughts going through his mind. Most of them were of surprised and incredibility. When he and his loud associated came to the planet, they didn't expect to be handed over what the Gaim Queens had entrusted them with.

"We're ready to leave." – Dexter stated.

The _Forgiveness_ was surrounded by the Gaim fleet accompanying them. The Christian flagship was carrying their greatest treasure: the Gaim back up plan incase their civilization faced ruin. The Queens had buried, within the most protected sectors of their hives, six latent Queen eggs, ready to hatch at any time.

"The Queens understand that nothing will stop the Human Empire from destroying N'chak'fah. So they entrust you with the safe-guards of our race." – Mi'narte had said.

At first, the Humans were quite incredulous they had been given the last hope of an entire race.

"Whether the Humans come now or later, our world will eventually fall. The Queens have nothing to lose by giving you the eggs."

And to top it off, the Gaim Intelligence also gave them half of their warships and many warriors and tenders all in stasis. This was virtually a planetary exodus, each layer of the society having a fragment of it been taken to safety. The monk could hardly believe the future of an entire species now rested in his hands.

The joined force began departing, flying away from the planet where they could open a multitude of jump-points and leave the soon-to-be doomed system.

"Can you imagine it?" – Theo asked Dexter. – "They have actually handed us the future of their civilization."

"At first I couldn't believe it, but the threat of planetary Armageddon can be quite convincing." – Dexter said, grimly. And to think it was their own people who was planning said Armageddon… – "Mi'narte said it was the oldest of the Queens who convinced the others. She must have seen that sooner or later, the Empire would be able to destroy their world even if they took cover underground. The eggs wouldn't have been able to save them. There's nothing to lose."

"Yes…" – Theo concorded solemnly. – "Since they gave us the eggs they might have a chance for survival. Like Mi'narte said, the Queens have nothing to lose with this."

"I know what will cheer you up" – Dexter shot him a toothy smile which put Theo on red alert.

"No, don't sing." – Theo had already enough of Dexter's 'cheer ups'. The man sings 'And the Rock Cried Out' loud like a man screaming in unimaginable pain. But instead of hearing the former chaplain's loud voice, it was the alarm of the ship that sounded.

"_Bridge to Brother Theo! We have problem, the Empire is here!_"

Harukaze was back on the bridge of her flagship after having retreated to her quarters when her fleet moved from Bestine to the next target. By now, the bombardment of Bestine has ended but there are still a few million Descari alive on the surface. But with the infrastructure destroyed and the contamination, they will eventually die out. Since there are no plans to settle a ground force on Bestine, no soldiers were landed. The Descari homeworld was not to be occupied or colonized. Soldiers would be much needed when the assault on the Cascan homeworld began.

"Admiral, the probes have detected us. By now, the Gaim certainly know we're here." – Hall said.

"No problem. Their sensors were good enough to detect our presence anyway. On any rate, we probably surprised them." – Harukaze had travelled only at medium speed to N'chak'fah when the Gaim scouts found them. After making sure nobody was watching them, Harukaze ordered best speed and the fleet quickened the pace. So then the First Invasion fleet reached the first layer of probes sooner than the Gaim had anticipated. – "Tell the first wave prepare to jump."

"Aye, Ma'am. Sending orders." – Harukaze felt the familiar bump as the _Heracles_ transited from the red and stormy realm to the black and starry of normal space.

**The First Invasion fleet spots half of the Gaim fleet joined with the Christians leaving the system. Harukaze, reluctantly, sends in her vanguard forces to deal with that half and a few breaching pods to capture the Christians.**

**However, Set-suna and her companions intervened. In hyperspace, they open jump points right in the middle of the human ships sent to intercept the Gaim/Christian forces. So the Christians and their Gaim escorts escape unharmed. Harukaze wonders why the Gaim would dismiss so many ships to protect Humans, so she sends a scout party. However, this scout party is destroyed in hyperspace by Set-suna. She gets the blessing from the Linkage to make contact with the Human saviors.**

**2nd February 2228 (one day later)**

**N'chak'fah II. Homeworld. Gaim Intelligence.**

"Squadrons 12 to 14 have finished wiping out the rest of the Gaim defenses, Ma'am. Moving into bombardment position." – Hall said.

"Negative. Tell them to watch the system and deploy hyperspace buoys. We don't need the whole fleet to participate in the bombardment. Tell our bombardment ships my squadron will join them." – the battle for N'chak'fah was relatively easy. While many of the vanguard ships were damaged because of the surprise jump-point attack, Harukaze's forces were still better trained and had the enemy outnumbered. The defensive fleet was dealt with and next came the mines which were the only orbital defense network around the planet.

The reports on the Gaim fleet weren't exaggerated a bit: the Gaim had the most heterogeneous looking fleet in the galaxy. Though the armament was mostly packed torpedoes, scatterguns and other particle-based weapons, the designs were taken after other races they bought the ships from. There were Narn dreadnoughts, Drazi cruisers, Abbai frigates, Brakiri destroyers among even a few Markab and Centauri ships.

However, that wasn't any of the matters on the Admiral's mind that troubled her. First, the mysterious jump-points which wiped out her squadrons and breaching pods. Second, the scout task group she sent in after the fugitives. Amidst the battle, they had lost contact with the scouts in hyperspace. Once the Gaim fleet was broken, Harukaze risked sending a second scout group looking for the first. They only found wrecks drifting through hyperspace, soon to leave the beacon, forever.

"Admiral?" – Hall spoke louder, bringing his senior officer out of her train of thoughts.

"Yes, Captain?" – unknowingly, she was in the same position Admiral Enkvist had been recently.

"Permission to speak freely, Ma'am?"

"Granted."

"You are thinking about our destroyed scouts, aren't you?"

Harukaze didn't answer right away. She gazed at the computer image of N'chak'fah been bombed from orbit.

"The reports the 2nd scout group gave me indicate the scouts fell to a well-armed unknown force." – Harukaze said no more. Not that she didn't trust her captain with the information. Harukaze kept this mysteries to herself; trusting them so bluntly to a junior officer would give the impression she didn't know what do to and would damage the trust her fleet had in her.

"You think the Christians have anything to do with this, Ma'am?"

The Christian vessels they had found leaving the system were accompanied by a portion of the Gaim fleet. Even thought, those ships could have never damaged the scout group like that. The reports showed the hulls had been pierced by cone-effect energy weapons. Whatever attacked the 1st scout group was advanced and powerful.

"Impossible. Those ships are completely un-harmed and the Gaim could have never done anything like that…" – Harukaze frowned. – "If I had to make a bet, I would put good money it was the same force that opened those jump-points that crippled our vanguard ships."

"Couldn't have been the Gaim, Ma'am?"

"Unlikely. They haven't even been to the stars for 50 years. Plus, the energy readings indicate these were opened from hyperspace and our scouts detected nothing at the time. While the Gaim have good sensors, we know for a fact that ours are better. This was definitely an unknown force. A very powerful and sneaky one, at that."

**An armed Drazi party arrives. Since the Drazi Freehold is trying to drive the Dilgar off their territory, they sent to the Gaim a traditionalist Drazi commander. Harukaze is caught by surprise and so are the Drazi, but she is able to pick them apart by challenging the Drazi leader to a duel with her wing of ships and trapping all the Drazi ships by all flanks. At the end, the Drazi leader tries to ram the **_**Heracles**_**. Harukaze directs all power to the forward guns and braces for impact. Some more rational Drazi manages to escape and is given the reports of the Gaim scouts by a battered Gaim ship. In the end, Harukaze is happy for she has faced something unexpected and still won. While some ships stay here to guard the planet, Harukaze rotates most of them for resupply. The jump-route to Sin'talith is cut off to isolate the Gaim. The guardian ships would also rotate to Tiree, for resupply, once in a while. Soon, a guard fleet is put in orbit to keep an eye on N'chak'fah, so that Harukaze's fleet can advance to the next target. **

**7th February 2228**

**Nacambad system. Colonized. Buddhism Faith.**

**As the Catholic Christian fleet rests on Nacambad for a while, they are approached by the Tal-kona'sha. Set-suna is a young girl and is accompanied by two males, Nar'shal and Kuh-ruz. The Tal-kona'sha are a secretive race that travels subtly all over the galaxy, learning every piece of knowledge there is to know. And Set-suna has decided she wants to investigate this war through the Human saviors' point of view.**

**After the first contact, Theo and Mr. Chong have an idea. They allow these three Tal-kona'sha to follow them and learn from them and in exchange, the Human faiths would be given supplies for their ships to survive and some assistance in moving refugees. The religious ships didn't need as much maintenance as warships did, fortunately, so Set-suna agrees. However, while the bargain involving the supplies and assistance is kept, the Tal-kona'sha won't share any of their technology.**

**10th February 2228**

**Rome, capital of Earth.**

**Empress plans with the Joint-chiefs about the Brakiri. When the Humans attacked the Descari and the Yolu, the Dilgar did the same with the Abbai and the Drazi. Utriel was captured and nuked while Tirolus had been contaminated and has become a dead world, all since January. The Dilgar, namely one Warmaster Len'char, had been having trouble on Fendamir, but Warmaster Jha'dur contaminated Latig with Stafford plague and set a trap for the Drazi. Now the Dilgar have Fendamir nearly captured, Drathun is dominated and Latig is deserted. Now they're attacking Tirrith and Roth. **

**Gamma 7 should be our foothold against the Brakiri, but since it's a lifeless rock, it would never be a fortress. So Gamma 7 should only be a starting point for the spear-head into the Brakiri Syndicracy. What's more, the Empire needs a fall-back world in case the Brakiri get the advantage. A world they could launch raiding attack in case Gamma 7 was taken back by the Brakiri. N'chak'fah would never do it and Bestine is now a half-poisoned, half-wild jungle. It is estimated only a few thousand Descari are still alive and will soon perish. It is presumed in two more years there will be no more living Descari. Janos is even more savage than Bestine and Sin'talith is not much more hospitable than Gamma 7. And so a Counsellor, director of the Intelligence agency, reminds them there is a world whose jump-route crossed their secret routes: Coriana VI.**

**13th February 2228**

**City of the Marti, Ssumsha.**

**Shala'dan talks with the Natar that his government just received the report handed by the Gaim after N'chak'fah fell. It gives a small insight that the Humans have been using deception warfare, Shock and Awe, which is pretty much like the Dilgar way. They have better coordination. Also, they indicate the Humans have been using secret invasion jump-routes. With the attacks on Utriel and Latig, the Drazi believe the reports from the Gaim matches the reports that came from the Abbai and themselves: Humans and Dilgar have been using new invasion jump-routes. Strangely enough, Abbai have been hearing rumors of Humans taking in refugees, though nobody believes it. Now the battle for Ssumsha begins.**

**19th February 2228**

**Kitab system (edge). Conquered. Human Empire.**

**News are that the Abbai homeworld is blockaded. Enkvist has defeated the Yolu counter-attack with extreme effectiveness. They attacked the Yolu ships on their way to Kitab in a surprise attack. While his losses were substantial, the Yolu's were greater. They have gone into defensive. Now he prepares for a series of aggressive attacks to soften up the enemy and drive them away from the coreward part of their territory. That way, even if the occupation of the Yolu is delayed, it won't interfere with the future invasion of Vartas. During this, prisoners were taken, though they were spaced. At first, he thought of broadcasting the defeated Yolu been spaced back to their homeworld in an effort to infuriate them. However, unlike the Markab who would go on a religious spiral of rage, the Yolu have a strong discipline of controlling their anger. He has learnt that by watching various broadcastings of Mutai.**

**10th March 2228**

**Gamma 7 system (Hyperspace). Colonized. League of Non-Aligned Worlds.**

**As Harukaze prepares for a new assault, this time on Gamma 7 to drive away its ships, especially Brakiri. Everyone has run from Sin'talith. To this, Janos, Coriana and Sin'talith are bypassed by the fleet. Two old but famous Pulsar dreadnoughts, **_**Nemesis**_** and **_**Flying Dutchman**_**, join Harukaze. These ships are better armed than the other Pulsars. They have performed greatly in the past and so were rewarded with a few exclusive upgrades after each victory.**

**Bester and his team go to Coriana VI where they meet the leader of the Craniz Republic to whom they offer power in return for having a base there. However, they only give the weapons. They don't teach the science to maintain them or replicate them. **

**27th March 2228**

**Soom V. Homeworld/Colonized. Non-unified/Baptist Christianity.**

**The Soom are in the middle of the Iron age, but always welcome travelers from the stars to their world. The planet has three different civilizations, not having reached an unified government yet. They have friendly welcome Dexter and his people and have helped them to get familiarized with their planet.**

**During the assault on Gamma 7, Dexter and his people have helped the Gaim to install themselves on their new homeworld, Soom III. Right then, they hear the Empire has made a deal with the Corians and Krish and Mitoc might be the next targets.**

**1st April March 2228**

**Coriana VI. Homeworld. Craniz Republic.**

**With the technology, the Craniz Republic gains control over their entire world. So, the leader of the Craniz Republic tells his people that the Human Empire would now protect them their enemies, both the ones on their world and others outside. And so, Coriana VI becomes a protectorate of the Human Empire and a perfect fall-back base.**


	8. The Tal-kona'sha

The Tal-kona'sha are NOT my invention. They exist in the Dilgar border and are the oldest of the younger races. They have mastered cyber-organic sciences and their ships are powerful and destroy anyone who comes within their territory. While they are still flesh, they are on the verge of becoming First Ones. Their only colony, Oh-ran'khi is equipped to grow a clone for each Tal-kona'sha, with the same memories they had at the time of death in case something happens to the homeworld, since Tal-kona'sha don't die of old age.

Now this is what I invented:

Their homeworld, Ren-kal'ta, has given birth to two races, the Tal-kons and the Na'sha. The Tal-kons, like Set-suna and Kuh-ruz are pale and have big round eyes with big round colorful pupils. Their mouths have big, sharp teeth. They have something similar to hair on their heads, however their hair isn't made of strings. It's rather a hard solid structure which grows and the Tal-kons can carve this structure like a Humans cuts their hair. Their noses are rigid, small but pointy with two very small nostrils.

The Na'sha, like Nar'shal, are shorter than the Tal-kons. The have sharp but smaller teeth. Their eyes are angular and are completely black except for their pupils. Also, their hair is similar to human hair. In a way, they look more Human than the Tal-kons. What truly distinguishes them are some strange black, lobster-leg-like appendages they have which are rooted on their vertebras in pairs.

Two million years ago, in the early days of their history, they waged war among each other but eventually managed to achieve peace without wiping out one another. Eventually, the Tal-kons and Na'sha joined into a single government, the Tal-kona'sha. They species can interbreed and the offspring are either Tal-kons or Na'sha.

At this point, the Tal-kona'sha have achieved telepathy through cyber-organic implants on their brains. They have dedicated their race to learn and archive all the knowledge in the universe. For that, they created a sort of 'internet', the Linkage, to which every Tal-kona'sha are connected to. All the information any member of their race has ever collected is stored within the Linkage and any Tal-kona'sha can access that information mentally. What one Tal-kona'sha knows, all Tal-kona'sha know.

For hundreds of thousands of years, they have stood inside their borders. The only ones who leave are the ones searching for new knowledge. They merely watch, they haven't interfered with any race or any Shadow War. Contact with other races has been kept to a minimum so very few individuals have ever seen a Tal-kona'sha. Ironically, no one has ever seen an adult Tal-kona'sha.

When the children reach 200 years old, they begin travelling the galaxy looking for a subject to which they should spend the rest of the younghood to learn and study. When they reach adulthood, in a few thousand years, the Tal-kona'sha return to their homeworld and spend the rest of eternity completely connected with the Linkage, debating and discussing their discoveries with the others of their kind.

Set-suna is based on Delenn, though she like the rest of her kind, has a few Vorlon traits. Nar'shal has been her companion for the longest and is completely dedicated to Set-suna. Their relation is like Dellen and Lennier's. While Nar'shal holds love for Set-suna, she doesn't love him back the same way, though she knows how Nar'shal feels about her.


	9. Resume

**Chapter 9: Resume**

Humans get Gamma 7 and change the codes to the jump-gate. Also, Gamma 7 becomes their guard against the Brakiri. At this point, we have made a deal with the Corians.

The Lorkan's, a Brakiri protectorate have powerful energy sources, a technology that the Humans are interested in. Therefore, the Empress wants the Lorkans severed from the Brakiri and brought into the growing empire. Harukaze sends an auto-controlled Hermes-class corvette to the Lorkan home system. Agile and fast, the uncrewed corvette evades the Brakiri and Lorkan warships and opens a jump-point inside the Lorkan jumpgate. This completely isolates the Lorkans from everyone. However, Harukaze's fleet is already on the system and they begin the attack. She has enough supplies for a few months so by the time the Lorkans are subdued, a new beacon is placed orbiting the planet, connecting it only to Gamma 7. At this point, the Human renegades evacuated many from Mitoc and Krish. To the surprise of many, the Krish and the Mitoc are left untouched, except for a few bases are built on the planets. The Empress and others know those two races are harmless and could simply be used as bases. It would be more profitable if the Krish and Mitoc became protectorates.

Krish is a world with great grade of oxygen. It's like an Earth on the Carboniferous period but with no giant insects or arachnids. The amphibians are small and the birds dominate. Most of the continents have warm swamps of tall trees and tropical rainforest with ferns. There are no deserts or ice caps. Giant, branchless trees occupy most of forests and swamps. When she was a spy, Admiral Harukaze climbed onto of one of those trees for the view, years before. The Krish are at the technological level of Earth in the late 20th century, except with no weapons nor pollution. They have never done harm to their planet. All of their cities are powered by solar, wind, thermal energy.

Mitoc is like Earth, except with less deserts, no ice caps and the forests are mostly temperate rainforest.

The fact that these two worlds are merely annexed into the Empire without battle or genocide catches Shiv'kala surprised who resents the fact that the Empress leaves two weak races alive. At this point, the Drakh begin to pull their own strings. They make contact with the Dilgar and eventually give them downgraded versions of a Death Cloud missile. They also make contact with Clark and put a Keeper on the Empress. Jha'dur eventually discovers the truth behind the Drafa Plague: it's a bio-engineered virus, created by the Drakh. She got this be analyzing some Drakh DNA.

Salasine, Drakh emissary to the Dilgar, reveals that a thousand years ago, shortly after the First Shadow War, the Drakh launched the virus on a Markab island as vengeance for they have sided with Valen during the war. However, the disease simply died out before the whole planetary population could be contaminated. The Shadows ordered the Drakh to pull out before they could give a second try. The Shadows wanted everyone to think they were truly gone. Now, as the Human Empire prepared for this war, the Drakh came to the Human Empress and made her a favor: eliminate their first enemy with a second generation of Drafa, a more deadly one.

Continuing, the Empire moves into the Cascans. Enkvist has finished the Yolu. When Pa'rl is pacified, he moves to Vartas. Since the Humans want Cascan fertile lands untainted, Harukaze withholds her nuclear weaponry and a massive ground assault is required. It is now that Colonel Franklin and Garibaldi have their climax. The Cascans army fall, without orbital support of their fleet. During all this time, Jha'dur had been keeping the Hyach busy, and Harukaze now moves to make a few raids on Shra-bal, to distract the Hyach.

In Operation: Pearl Harbor, Bester, his brother, Dar'ro and Arn'dal have their climax in this fict. The Brakiri colony of Comac is heavily guarded and has to be taken. So the four infiltrate the colony and de-activate/cripple part of the defenses. Next, a joint Harukaze/Sha'dur fleet moves in and conquers Comac.

While Shri-shraba is contained, the resistance prevents the Dilgar from taking the world. The thermo-nuclear missiles aren't easy to build, though the Drakh give them many to finish off the resistance in Shri-shraba. But first, the Dilgar need to make a test.

Krish is held by the Empire, but then they need the ships guarding the world elsewhere. Levy, under the influence of the Keeper, gives the world to the Dilgar, who say they could use it for a test. Then it will be Human property afterwards. Knowing what kind of 'test' it might be, Counselor Samuel Drake, and others in the military, have evacuated 900 million Krish and many others in Krish ships to Mitoc. He fears this war is spinning out of control. After the Dilgar make a whole continent on Krish destroyed and gutted to the mantle with a small amount of Shadow missiles, they turn to Shri-shraba.

It is the destruction of Krish that moves Set-suna into talking to the rest of her race. She says her race had the power to prevent this but they only cared about gathering the knowledge but never using it. Set-suna breaks away from the Linkage and her people, followed by many other young Tal-kona'sha she has been able to touch.

At Shri-shraba, the missiles are fired against the planet from behind the defensive fleet. The missiles drill through the Hyach ships and into the planet, obliterating the world.

Meanwhile, Levy figures out the Keeper has problems against alcohol and starts taking small measures against it.

While the Mitoc has been left alone, the Krish Drake evacuated have been sent there.

After the Brakiri were eliminated, the Dilgar turn their full attention to the Drazi front. Warleader Stro'kath fights brave and smartly but is defeated. Under circumstances that I haven't got the chance to figure out, his crippled ship is hurled into hyperspace and drifts until by sheer luck, the Narns find it and bring him to their sanctuary on Quadrant 7. The Narns have been for a long time taking in refugees from the League and even many damaged warships.

However, the Dilgar come for Quadrant 7, claiming the refugees are pirates though they only want the world for its richness of Quantium-40. The Narns ask for aid from their new allies, the Centauri. Emperor Turhan sends his fleet to help the Narns defending Quadrant 7. Stro'kath and other League generals joined the defensive force. However, with the help of the Human Empire and its new Armageddon-class cruisers, the Dilgar win and the defensive allied fleet withdraws. Fortunately, all the inhabitants of the colony had been previously evacuated.

Next, the Dilgar request the Humans help to finish the Drazi homeworld. That forces Levy, controlled by the Keeper, to let them borrow the fleet guarding the home-system. This is exactly what the Drakh have been planning: the Sol system is completely defenseless.

The Drakh contact Stro'kath and the rest of the League forces under the Narn protection. They fed them lies about them been a race that the Humans attacked without provocation and destroyed their homeworld. The Drakh offer the remnants of the League a chance to attack the Human homeworld and the League, thirsty for vengeance, accepts it.

The Drakh use their own stealth ships to protect the last League fleet and take them to the Sol system. With no ships to protect the planet and the defense grid and Luna's base scanners deactivated (due to the Drakh's machinations), the last living members of the League begin orbital bombardment on Earth.

On the Imperial Palace, which is protected by ground batteries, Drake runs to the Empress office and there he founds Shiv'kala with Levy. Then, Levy (allowed by her Keeper) reveals everything to Drake. The Drakh realized that once the war was over, the Humans would no longer be fed by their anger in time for the next Shadow war. So by making an attack on Earth performed by aliens, they intended to feed the Humans with more anger to continue to kill the weaker races, even after this war was over.

Then Clark appears and reveals that he has been in alliance with the Drakh for some time, with the intent of reaching the throne. Just then, Levy, who had drunk enough to resist the Keeper, attacks Shiv'kala and allows Drake to escape. Clark kills Levy with a PPG, but before Shiv'kala could send his Drakh servants to go follow and kill Drake, he kills Clark, saying that _'Humans are a strong race, hence they need a strong leader. You are weak._'

Outside, the Sheridan family is struck by a laser. Young John, to his great horror, discovers his parents and sister were disintegrated. He runs away to the safety of the underground shelters.

Jha'dur and her fleet, which were allowed to re-supply at Tiree, heard about the attack on Earth and go as fast as they can go to Earth to save their allies homeworld. At this point, the Dilgar have developed a healthy respect for the Humans and vice-versa. Jha'dur's fleet jumps all around Earth and wipes out the remnants of the League.

And so the war comes to an end. The Humans and the Dilgar have built two vast empires, but Earth has been very damaged. The Tal-kona'sha Renegades and the Human Faiths have joined into a force controlling a good territory. Within this space, some of the last thousands of refugees of every League race survive (except the Vree, Markab, Alacans and Balosians). However, the only League civilization which hasn't gone extinct are the Gaim, installed on their new homeworld. Nobody knows what happened to the Vree that escaped the Humans. When they broke away from Ren-kal'ta, Sets-suna and her people took as many advanced warships as they could. Those ships are now protecting their new territory, though they weren't in enough numbers to have helped the League during the war.

Set-suna told her Human friends of the Shadows and Vorlons and the coming war. She reveals that this war had been planned for the last two centuries. It was the Drakh who pulled the strings so that the Centauri would invade Earth and bring the Humans into the stars as a violent race to become the Shadow's pawns and destroy the 'weak' League. And so the Tal-kona-sha Renegades/Human Faiths begin to prepare for the coming Shadow war.

In the end, Jha'dur discovered Len'char was aligned with the Drakh, too and he partly planned for the attack on Earth. However, since he didn't get anyone Jha'dur loved killed, she gave him a more merciful ending. After a few months of torture, Jha'dur dumped Len'char on Vega VII, where Marcus and his family ate him.


	10. End, Sequel, Map and Thanks

EPILOGUE OF FICT:

After the war, Samuel Drake was elected new Emperor. He gave Jha'dur a medal of gratitude for saving Earth. With the homeworld once again in ruins, the people of Earth start to move elsewhere. Mars, Europa, Callisto, Proxima III, Orion IV and others, including Markab and Alzeral's populations grow due to the massive exodus over from 2230 to 2258.

With the technology from the Vree, Mars becomes habitable achieves Earth-like condition prior to the Centauri invasion. However, due to its small size it can't grow much. So Mars is now the capital planet, housing the government. Proxima III is now the new Human homeworld, holding the largest human population.

The Tal-kona'sha Renegades found a system which previously was unnamed and joined it to their territory. The system has a habitable planet and there they begin using as a base to build their ships and prepare for the future Shadow War. They name the system 'Set-sunar'shal', in honor of Nar'shal and Set-suna who founded this movement. Set-sunar'shal is also the capital planet of the Tal-kona'sha Renegades/Human Faiths.

Over the last years, the Human Empire has added a few more worlds to their territory as protectorate races: such as the **Sh'lassan** (in my fict, the Sh'lassan are aliens, not humans), the **Denovans** and the **Wychand**. They also created the Aegis-class of light cruisers based on shadow technology. They are small, agile, powerful, easy to build and were mass-produced to replace the Human losses during the war. The file of the Aegis is already on Deviantart.

The only motive the Human economy survived was because of the help of the Dilgar and a few minor extortions from the Human protectorates.

SEQUEL:

I had plans for a sequel, in the year 2258. Gar'shan, Jha'dur, Sha'dur and Emperor Drake had begun a secret Human-Dilgar project, in 2256, to join the technology from the League and the Shadow vessel into a new class of warships to use during the Shadow war they know it's coming. This project is conducted on the isolated Human colony of Elitria, close to the Dilgar border.

Since the Humans had been busy consolidating their forces and rebuilding their fleet, they had no expeditions to Minbari space and so no Human-Minbari War happened. Though I planned for such war, eventually. Perhaps during the Shadow war, too.

The Minbari stealth and scanners are still superior to our own. However, since we're more advanced in this fict than in cannon, we can lock better on the Minbari, though they still have better range and weapons. The only weapon we have that is superior to them is our molecular splicer beams, coupled with shadow armor. If we can hold our economy together, we could fairly easily win a Human-Minbari war.

MAP:

With the gravitic and soil-manufacturing tech from the Vree, Mars, Europa, Callisto and even Ganymede became habitable with self-sustaining ecosystems. With Proxima III, Orion IV, Deneb IV and conquered habitable worlds like Alzeral II, Markab, Tiree III and Vreetan, humanity has many places to where it can choose to live in. While many of these worlds are colonized by the millions, most of mankind concentrates in the worlds originally belonging to the Empire. Proxima is the new home-system, holding the largest population in the Empire. I have a final map, of the year 2258 which shows the two large empires.

MARKAB: Fortress world; shipyards, military training, mining, medical and archaeological research, medium colonization.

TROTH: Mining, supply base, fortress, monitor.

TIREE: Supply base; minor-medium colonization; tourism.

VREETAN: Gravitic and anti-matter tech research; Medical science research; Telepathic research; Military shore-leave settlement; Supply base.

ALZERAL: Medium colonization; mining.

PHOTIKAR: Mining (ice and mineral); Black projects (seal base)

DENIZALA: Quarantined Dead world.

T'LAD'THA: Mining

BESTINE: Uninhabited.

JANOS: Uninhabited.

SIN'TALITH: Monitor and mining.

KITAB: Military training/ industrialization.

PA'RL: Dangerous technologies test world (strictly guarded).

TROKATA: plant science research and minor mining (Wild world with walking plants)

CASCAN: Agriculture world, supply colony for local area of the empire, including Krishilk, Kitab and Gamma 7. Garrison fleet which guards that area.

GAMMA 7: Big mining operation; shared jurisdiction with the Dilgar who get 25% of the mineral profits.

IPSHA: Dead world.

EKLOR: Anti-spinward exploration.

ELITRIA: Extraction of gases to the industries of Kitab. Outpost of contact with the Dilgar Imperium. Secret location of Dilgar-Human warship project.

HUMAN PROTECTORATES:

MITOC: the Mitoc were the only ones who actually profited from the war. While they have to pay the Humans an annual finance, their homeworld is virtually untouched, they are under the protection of a large and mighty Empire, they are not enslaved and the Humans have allowed them access to some advanced particle and laser weapons which are but toys to the Humans but a big technological step for the Mitoc. While unsatisfied with the slaughter their new masters caused, the Mitoc are grateful their people didn't suffered from it.

KRISH: With their homeworld destroyed by the Dilgar experiment, the Krish survivors were moved to Mitoc by some sympathetic Humans in the government and military. Also, the Human Faiths rescued some Krish before. Now their people have been moved to Zachal, former Cascan colony. Zachal is fertile and breathable; however it hasn't developed any complex life. The Empire, and the determined Krish are making big successful efforts to introduce plants and animals native from Krish to make Zachal like their old home. They even renamed the planet KRISHILK (new Krish) to be their new homeworld and soon they will once again travelling the stars. Since their people are trying to rebuild a new homeworld, the Krish were spared of any extortion to rebuild the Empire. In the year 2258, their new home is more or less stable and they are ready to travel the stars, once again.

VARTAS: The Llort homeworld has been left unscarred, though it suffered a little of bombardment of energy weapons. They pay the finances and live under Human influence. While the Llort resent been dominated, they are curious to exchange things with their new masters.

LORKA: The Lorkans, who don't allow aliens on their homeworld, were terrified when the Human governor came to the surface. Though, between that and planetary Armageddon, they didn't have much of a choice. The Lorkan's were forced to give the Humans some of their technology. They have powerful energy sources and these are useful for ships with the molecular slicers which devours a lot of power. The Lorkans fully resent the Human dominance they're under, but appreciate that is better than the Dilgar.

CORIANA: The Corians, all under the Craniz Republic, have united their world and reached the stars with the help of the Human Empire. And for that they are grateful. And such gratefulness is been paid with servitude and taxes. Though they would prefer to be independent, they are relieved they're not enslaved.

THETA: Theta, homeworld of the Vakeshin, is in the late Iron Age. The Vakeshin were the first of the Human protectorates. They see Humans as Gods, though the Humans have (somewhat pouting) discouraged that idea. The Human claim they are just visitors from the stars who came protect their world from of the 'Demons of the Sky'. The taxes inflicted on the Vakeshin are paid only on resources. The Humans have introduced the Vakeshin to some primitive technologies of the Powder age Earth, though they intend to let the Vakeshin figure the rest out on their own.

SH'LASSA: The Sh'lassans, in the year 2243, were in the middle of a civil war. The Human Empire interfered on behalf of the government. In exchange, the Sh'lassan Triumvirate would trade and form an alliance of mutual defense. After the rebels were exterminated, the Triumvirate still needed money to repair the damage, which the Human Empire paid. However, they became so indebted they now rely on the Human Empire to survive. Though, by 2258, the Sh'lassan are economically back on their feet, they are under the control of the Human Empire. The Human threatened to stripe them of their only colony, Akdor, if they didn't say 'yes'.

DENOVA: The Denovans are a peaceful race who were discovered by the Humans decades before the war. While they were left alone, for all that time, in 2240, the Humans initiated first contact. They brought the Denovans to the stars. In return for servitude and resources, the Denovans would be under the protection of the Human Empire. The Denovans are happy with this deal and if they have nothing to complain about, neither have the Humans.

ZAFRAN: Zafran, homeworld of the Wychand, had just reached their moon when they became the target of the Koulami and Ch'lonas. The Human Empire interfered and saved the Wychand from becoming an oppressed race. Despite the Wychand gratitude, they only became part of the Empire reluctantly. Since their first alien contact had been not very pleasant, the Wychand are wary of the Humans, though the few but good technological boosts the Humans gave them made their fears grew quieter.

THANKS:

Thanks to everyone who has kept up until now! Related to the fict, I had a few other ideas for the future. For example:

1 John Sheridan would be sent to full recruit into the Junior Force. The death of his family and his harsh life would shape him into a cold general.

2 Stephen Franklin would follow military career like his father, though he would remain a good man.

3 Susan Ivanova and her family would eventually flee the Empire and join the Human Faiths.

4 Jha'dur and Dal'shan would marry and have kids

5 Jeffrey Sinclair would eventually meet Ari'shan in a Human-Dilgar flight school as an instructor.

Though this fict was my idea, I couldn't have done it without Lord of Misrule who inspired me through the comparison of Human and Dilgar. The fanfict of the Dilgar War is the work with such dedication I have never seen! As a final goodbye gift, this is an excerpt I was planning for my story, when Jha'dur was trying to save the Earth from the League bombardment. Her flagship is struck by a missile and she falls unconscious. During that, her mind drifts to a song she casually heard when she searched through Human entertainment channels. I just love song parodies!

_As Jha'dur's brain fell into the darkness, a memory came into her mind. A song she casually heard when she searched through an old Human entertainment game. At the time, the Warmaster found it incredibly amusing! Though her mouth was frozen, Jha'dur mind began singing her own version of that song:_

_This was a failure_

_I'm making a note here: GE-NO-SIDE! _

_It's hard to understate my murderous wrath:_

_Towards Len'char_

_I do what I must to serve my race_

_For the good of all of Dilgar_

_Except the ones that I kill_

_But there's no sense crying over the puny League's fate_

_We'll just keep on killing for a good future's sake_

_And the genocide gets done_

_And we blot out the sun_

_For a future where Omelos' still alive_

_I'm not even angry_

_I am lying through my teeth_

_I can't believe Len'char made a deal with the Drakh_

_And helped them with this attack_

_And even tried to kill me as well._

_And as I fall out cold, it hurt because_

_I was superior to him!_

_But this fight we're doing will make a beautiful line._

_And that line's our alliance _

_With the Human Empire._

_So I'm kinda glad he did this all._

_Gave me an excuse to kill him off._

_For a future where Omelos' still alive._

_Go ahead and forget me_

_I think I prefer to simply hide._

_Maybe he'll find someone else to kill him._

_Maybe Yor'lothan. . ._

_That was a joke! HA-HA! Fat chance_

_Anyway, as for Len'char's hide._

_I'll castrate him in cold-blood. _

_Look at me, still talking, when there's killing to be done._

_When I look out there, it makes me rejoice in the fun._

_Indeed, the job almost done._

_Soon, the League will be gone._

_For a future where Omelos' still alive_

_And believe I am still alive_

_I'll be gone for a while but I am still alive._

_I fell fantastic and I'm still alive._

_While Len'char's dying I'll be still alive._

_And when he's dead I will be still alive._

_Still alive._

_Still alive._

Well, this is goodbye to everyone. Farewell and thanks for all the reviews and ideas.


	11. Update chapters 2 to 5, 7, 9 and 10

**Chapter 11: Update chapters 2 to 5, 7, 9 and 10**

Since I got more time than I thought, figured I could perfect a little things on this fict. First, I corrected many spelling errors on chapters 2 to 5, 7, 9 and 10.

Also, a few details of the plot were changed especially on chapter 2. Earth is a little less xenophobic than before. I also described the previous administration before Levy became Empress, in order to enrich her character.

At first, when we were expanding rimward, we met the Ch'lonas and Koulani. For three times they tried to invade, but Eartharmy repelled them with ease. Then a super xenophobic Emperor (previous to Levy) rose to the throne and ordered Eartharmy to push in the borders of the Markab, Ch'lonas and Koulani. This emperor was a fanatic who believed Humans were born superior to all aliens and didn't bother to finance any Eartharmy projects nor improving the military, which caused a handful of defeats. Then came Levy who managed to clean up the mess, re-improve Eartharmy and stop the ultra-xenophobic propaganda, trying to create a militaristic but more open-minded Empire. Just read chapter 2 for the whole thing.

Other changes included making things a little more top secret. Eartharmy's secret projects aren't been leaked out in rumors anymore.


End file.
